City council approves $400M deal to build downtown Event Park, housing near Rogers Place

Conceptual rendering of the event park in downtown Edmonton. (Oilers Entertainment Group)

Edmonton city council approved a deal on Monday worth more than $400 million that will see a new event park built next to the downtown arena and fund the demolition of the old Coliseum.

The $250-million Event Park will replace Ice District’s Fan Park on the block immediately east of Rogers Place. It is expected to open in 2029.

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City council voted 9-4 in favour of the deal.

The Alberta government and the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) had promised major contributions to some key city goals if the city agreed to build the new facility.

City staff had been negotiating the deal for months, and the terms are now set.

As a part of the all-or-nothing deal, the province will put up $183 million, the city $138 million and the OEG $87 million.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he supports the plan, saying the event park “will further allow us to attract more events and attract more people to live, work and play downtown.”

“At a certain point, you just need to move forward,” Sohi told media on Monday at city hall. “This is a big investment in our downtown.”

Tim Shipton, OEG’s executive vice-president, said in a statement the National Hockey League owner and Rogers Place operator is “excited” that the deal has been set.

“We would like to thank city administration and city council for their bold vision, leadership and unwavering commitment to the ongoing revitalization of Edmonton’s downtown core,” Shipton said.

“This partnership is a prime example of what can be accomplished when municipal and provincial governments work together with the private sector to help ensure Edmonton has a prosperous and vibrant downtown core – which will benefit all Edmontonians.”

City council wasn’t aware of some parts of the deal until late last week, such as allowing trade shows and conferences at the event park that could take business away from the city’s existing conference centres, and soft language on housing requirements.

The three parties signed a memorandum of understanding in June that set next Monday, Sept. 1, as the deadline for the deal, pressure several councillors believed was arbitrary.

CIty councillor Ashley Salvador, who voted for the deal, said it really was “a take-it-or-leave-it situation” and that council had “to respond to the situation that’s in front of us.”

Others on city council, such as Andrew Knack, were left “frustrated.”

“The whole point of this was to build housing,” said the Ward Nakota Isga councillor, who voted against it. “Now there’s no legal requirement to build housing. And I cannot understand how we are okay with that.”

Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz also voted against it, saying of the priorities that council had looked at in the city’s four-year budget, “an event park downtown was not one of them.”

“This is not our idea,” Janz said. “This is one business provider’s idea.”

The government announced plans for the event park in its budget last February, working with the OEG on the plan to transform the space.

The park is just one part of the proposal, which also includes money to put pipes and wires under the land north of Rogers Place – where the OEG plans to build housing – plus $37.5 million to demolish the Coliseum, which the Oilers abandoned nine years ago for the downtown arena. The city plans to demolish the Coliseum next year.

In the agreement, OEG committed to building 354 housing units by 2028 then 420 units more within five years.