Agora Borealis: Northlands Coliseum Site Pitch
By baggedmilk
5 years agoA new group has come forward with a last-minute plan to repurpose the Northlands Coliseum site and upgrade the area with a new look and vision. The goal is to create “an open space serving as an assembly area and a place for commercial, civic, social, and religious activities.”
As you can see from the picture, this pitch is certainly lofty but would completely transform the area, which is currently a largely empty wasteland. I mean, if you’ve ever been to Rexall Place you’ll know that it’s not exactly the “freshest” area of the city that you could ever visit so I don’t think that upgrading the space is the worst idea you could have. If this plan went through, and admittedly it seems like a lofty project, then the area would certainly get the much-needed facelift that it needs.
So what’s the plan here? From the website:
The development will house 700 families and guests, with a mix of housing options including seniors, student residences, market rental apartments, and a hotel. These neighbours live in a village with commercial amenities varying from a large grocery to boutique shops and benefit from an easily accessible, well-appointed Community Centre.Streets and buildings are arranged to provide a lively outdoor market square animated with cafes and restaurants. A large retail store is hosted on the north end of the site. Six storey buildings provide market rental and condominiums buffers the market square from south winds.The prime south/east corner functions as a medical district, with signage on the three storey medical office buildings taking advantage of the available exposure. Offices and labs in these buildings are connected to seniors apartments and suites, housed in the re-purposed Coliseum.
All of that sounds good, but I’m going to need to see some pictures here to show me the vision. I was always more of a pop-up book kind of guy and I think with a project of this magnitude that we’ll need a few pics to give us a better look at the vision.
Phew! At first, I thought they were talking about redoing the whole neighbourhood to the point of tearing down the Northlands Inn. I mean, I don’t know if I’ll ever feel the need to head down to Diesel Ultralounge and crush pints out of red solo cups but I’d still like to have the option available, ya know?
Anyway…
Having an idea for the old barn site is all well and good but what comes next? How do we move this project forward? Can we move it forward? For the answers, I head back to the website to find out what’s next:
Step 1: Stop the demolition of the Coliseum
Time will be needed to demonstrate that repurposing of the facility to a different use is within compliance of obligations of the City sponsorship agreement. Is repurposing of the structure to an unrelated use the equivalent of demolition in terms of closure of the building as an Entertainment Facility?
Step 2: Get the community onboard
Talk to residents of Montrose and Eastwood to learn the story of the land and their hopes for their Neighbourhoods. Talk to Citizens of Edmonton and guests from across Canada to share their memories of the Building and how to celebrate them.
Step 3: Develop and finalize the design
Obtain grant funding to do a thorough study of the Planning, Infrastructure, and Architecture of the development, with an eye to obtaining accurate costs and valuations.
Step 4: Rezone and Implement the vision
Vend the site to a not for profit Prime Developer, allowing the transfer of portions of the project to additional Development Partners with obligations to deliver the Design within a set timeline.
THE WRAP…
While I’m certainly impressed by the presentation and the concept that these folks have put forward, the reality is that this project still has a lot of hurdles left to jump before it moves forward. Personally, I would rather see this idea (or one like it) go through, giving the old barn new life, rather than just bulldozing the place down. The question, of course, is how feasible this concept is and whether or not city council will have any appetite to keep pushing for it. The last time we checked, city council had actually voted to move towards demolition and it will take a lot of hard work and luck to keep the dream alive.
That said, ideas are the first step to getting something done so I like how this has started off, but that’s all it is right now is a start. Who knows how far this project will get or if it even has a chance at seeing the light of day outside of a few artist renderings, but, for me, I would much rather see ideas keep coming in as for what to do with the old arena site than just settling on knocking it down. But when push comes to shove, as we all know, the dollars matter.
What do you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Waste of time? What say you, Nation?
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