Have you heard the latest?
The City of Calgary is investing (900) nine hundred million dollars into the building of a new entertainment and sports center with (300) three hundred million in infrastructure payments coming from The Province of Alberta with Scotia Bank as a major partner. On top of this, Calgary is honoring its history by maintaining and utilizing its iconic facilities like the Calgary Corral And Saddledome.
A stark contrast to Edmonton. We saw, after a makeover, new concrete stands, a roof with the removal of support columns providing an unobstructed view of the ice level below, home to many historical events with a capacity of (5000) five thousand seats, lost forever. This was the Edmonton Gardens. Built to last, it took five tries to bring the building down. A sad day for many indeed.
To add insult to injury, against (63) sixty-three submissions some backed by structural engineering firms as sound. City Council has voted and leaned toward falling the Iconic Edmonton Coliseum. First, by initial estimates of imploding the building @ 8.5 million, the cost to do so continued to rise. In fact, BBB Architects proposed a six (6) rink minor hockey project believed to have been backed by the Edmonton Oilers Governor, Bob Nickelson @ a cost of (112) million dollars. Instead, the council by a vote of eight (8) to five (5) voted to blow the coliseum up in favor of new development for thirty-five (35) million dollars. We have been in contact with BBB Architects and are pleased with the communication and their willingness to discuss their submission and role in plans for a future ice rink development.
Another very notable and promising development option is the submission by Ben Gardner Architects, who also utilized the structural engineering firm Dreamworks Engineering. You can learn more About Ben Gardner Architects and Dreamworks Engineering as we proceed with more round table discussions, the first of which is also being posted. Let’s just say that this project named Agora Borealis, promises a community center and seniors affordable housing suites in the Edmonton Coliseum itself. See the full project reloaded on their site, to more fully appreciate the effort that went into such a development proposal; https://gardnerarch.ca/agora-borealis/ The only reason that can be made for the project not going ahead is cost. Perhaps the project was offered too soon, before the now Nine (9) Billion Dollar Rapid Housing Initiative was introduced by the Federal Government. The plan now would be to reintroduce and publicize this development option with the master development plan just introduced; savethecoliseum.ca
Between the two, or a combination of the ice rinks, and tennis courts, Edmontonians now have some new and exciting development options to revitalize and build a great all-inclusive community benefiting the whole city.
Stay tuned, The Best Is Yet To Come!