I'm going to have to say... that would be pretty awesome.

I'm assuming this was rendered by Gene Dub, the local architect (who also did City Hall, btw), given the watermark at the beginning of the .mov. So it seems legit!

That would look sweet, but it still doesn't account for downtown traffic? I think that's the biggest issue about a downtown arena.

Love it. I hope Kay-Z "builds dat shit yo"

Interesting that it isn't on 97st street in this rendering.

It's convenient that it's on 97th street. I like the skywalk over to the court house, I can go straight from the game to court house fight my parking ticket.

Wanye, it sure is on 97 street. It appears to sit between 96 street and 97 street and 102A ave and 103A ave. Just east of the law courts. just south of Brownlee Bldg and the Remand. Just south of the Police Station.

They must be expecting to arrest some people after games.

I hope it seats 21 000 plus. It's my guess that any new facility will have to be in service for a lot longer than facilities in other NHL cities. Rexall the Sequel; or RX2 must be ahead of the curve. I suggest extra big seats for the fatties and teleportation pods in the basement so lazy eastern UFA superstars will be willing to sign here.

That would look sweet, but it still doesn’t account for downtown traffic? I think that’s the biggest issue about a downtown arena.

By the year 2040(when this will be built at this pace) everyone will teleport to the games, what you should be worried about is arriving home with the proper body parts ;)

Looks sharp, build it now. The thing about the traffic isn't a big deal to me assuming that the LRT has adequate parking facilities. Definitely looks like the project KayZ has envisioned with the retail, residential & restaurant district.

I think its cool how its not just an arena but a big multiplex of shopping and commercial properties. After this is built I think I may retire from partying on Whyte and replace it for the new downtown.

Are those solar panels on the roof?

This is legit. There is a story to follow on City TV... Also apparently Stortini bumped into and injured Vishnovsky at practice. Does anyone know for how long?

Chris - I vaguely remember seeing somewhere that Gags and Vish would be back in for Wednesday.

What is the concern with downtown traffic? There is WAY more that 20,000 people who commute to and from work each day and barring stupidity, things work well on a daily basis. Seriously, how is this a concern for anyone? It's not like we are adding 20k to rush hour. Travel to and from Oiler games is during non-peak traffic time. Add the transit system that is already established and traffic is the absolute least concern of adding a downtown arena.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/11/24/oilers_news/

"The Edmonton Oilers received some good news from the infirmary as both Sam Gagner and Lubomir Visnovsky skate in Monday's practice and should be available for Wednesday's game against Los Angeles.

Both players hurt their legs in practices this past weekend, Gagner on Friday and Visnovsky on Saturday."

"RX2"

This is just tremendous. I consider this the new name of the arena.

It is on 97th? I must confess I was disoriented by the extreme speed of the clip

More info here: New concept for arena in the Quarters Downtown.

I think that's the ugliest arena I've ever seen, and yes, I'm including the Saddledome.

Sheesh, it's in the Sun too.

Gawd is that awful. That's Paris Hilton hungover without her makeup awful.

We'll be the laughingstock of the league. Are we trying to contact aliens or is that a giant snow cone?

And to have ice level above street level, how stupid and irresponsibly expensive is that?

i dont know why people are complaining about the appearance. i personally think it looks pretty cool - like a skeleton of a building surrounded by nice open 'new urbanism' store fronts. what do these people actually want it to look like - any good architectural critic has to back up what they do and do not like about it... if you don't like it how about explaining why. i think it would be sufficient to gentrify a frightening neighborhood into something nice to look at and possibly live in in addition to giving the city some kind of centre piece to expand and improve upon the looks of downtown. so what if it has a funnel shape, it is a hell of a lot better than looking like some stupid elipse sitting in the middle of a downtown core or a friggin saddle for that matter. it is different, it is brightly coloured (a plus in our winter climate as it provides something eye catching beyond concrete) and it would provide enough amenities to appease those that oppose the idea of a hockey-centric facility.

despite all this, i think the baccarat casino might fork over a large wad of cash (and given the current economic climate we may not see much from the municipal or provincial government to counter this) to put it on 104 near grant mac, which isn't a terrible place for it either.

Thinking outside of the box a bit - traffic wouldn't be an issue as the roads around it would be limited traffic, pedestrian roads. Even the City is trying to upgrade it's transit system to enable people to stop wanting to drive everywhere.

I like the idea of the trees & green spaces taking up what is now parking along 97th. The only question I have is where will the hookers hang out after the rink is built...

I think it looks great. Not sure about the colour of the arena portion, but if you look at the clip you can see that the "arena" portion is basically inserted into an all-glass frame which then covers inward looking retail store fronts. That makes it look like (and I hope) that there could be restos/bars in that "covered" area which would be open prior to the game where people could pre-game in climate controlled conditions and then just walk over to the door. In a perfect world, people could just walk from their offices downtown to the arena area, grab a bite and a beer in the area and then watch the game. Traffic would be lessened then as a good percentage of the people would already be downtown.

And I don't think the ice-level is above street-level, if you look when the rendering flies by, it appears the outdoor "concourse" ends with ice level right at grade.

Lord knows the ACC in Toronto is right downtown surrounded by condo towers with no reasonable parking and yet they fill it up with Laughs fans ever night.

Ok - just had another look, maybe the ice surface isn't at grade... which would be a bit weird. Hard to tell.

Yeah, I believe the ice surface is on the "3rd floor" along with houswares, electronics and ladies lingerie.

Ha ha... good one Towel Boy!!! I hope appliances are located on the 3rd floor so that Porky Penner will have a place to find a snack between periods!!!

The COPPER POT!

As a early 20s Oiler fan who lives downtown I would be extatic if this proposed plan went through. I love the location and I think the arena looks great. The current Rexall place is archaic and in a terrible location. I admit that increased traffic would be a huge problem, but with the upcoming LRT expansion perhaps the the increased traffic flow wouldnt be nearly as problematic as many are suggesting.

I also hope the new building's acoustics will be state of the art. Anyone who has been to a concert at the current Rexall (esp. a non hard rock show) knows just how awful the sound in Rexall can be.

[...] Using methods that we will chalk up to witchcraft, our very own DJ Spyn Cycle showed us all a proposed design for the arena by local architect Gene Dub... [...]

Where's the blue "flush" handle?

It is my understanding that the designer drew this up out of the goodness of his heart. The first thing that comes to mind {... after flushing and washing up... OK, I guess that makes it the third thing that comes to mind.;-)}...

You get what you pay for.

I say, "pass".

Louise

That thing is awful. But I like it.

Sorta like Brownlees facial hair lol.

"It is my understanding that the designer drew this up out of the goodness of his heart."

Sorry Louise. These 3-d renditions costs alot to produce, let alone develop the architectural plans in the first place. I don't think for a second that Gene Dub did this from an altruistic perspective. FYI - he owns the land that this proposal sits on. Its reportedly worth about $20 million.

Thank you, David. :-)

I knew that.

I don't visit here often, and rarely post. fwiw - I'm rather fond of painting pictures with but a few words, even tho clarity is often lost in the brush strokes. For future reference, feel free to proof my words for sarcasm and double entendres.

L8r

It looks like a covered wok, or an electric grill or something.