[ChazYEG]

Two questions:
1. Would the new stadium proposal be part of a Ice District Phase 3?
2. What will be the cost and who will be paying for it? I assume a CRL will be involved.

Not that I particularly support the idea of building a new stadium. I still think that it would be more interesting to renovate the Commonwealth fully, but Europe has been building top-notch stadiums for about 200 to 400M Euros in some places (and both construction labour and material costs there are slightly higher than Canada's, on average.). These costs usually give you 40,000 seats, all covered and super comfortable, state-of-the art amenities, usually a space for a museum and a plaza for events outside of the stadium.

 

[Ned]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1617562928164777988

See page four of the Amarjeet Sohi letter dated November 28, 2022 that is attached in the tweet. In what is basically a funding wish list for the 2023 provincial budget, Amarjeet Sohi asks for the following, "Restore Commonwealth Stadium to a world-class event centre by providing between $160 million and $185 million to facilitate the necessary rehabilitation and modernization upgrades to the space. Commonwealth Stadium has hosted many world-class events over the years including the Commonwealth Games, and FIFA's Women's World Cup. We will also host the Snowboard World Cup this December. An upgrade to this space would ensure we attract more world class events bringing millions of dollars in revenue to Alberta."

A refresh of Commonwealth Stadium is therefore on the radar of Edmonton City Council.

 

[archited]

Two questions:
1. Would the new stadium proposal be part of a Ice District Phase 3?
2. What will be the cost and who will be paying for it? I assume a CRL will be involved.

1. Ideally it would be an Ice District Phase III (although if the idea were to gain traction it might be an Ice District Phase II, bumping the other out of second place). It would be a HUGE boon for the City and work to cement the downtown core as "the place to be". With apartments/condos and a hotel attached it would bring a lot of population density along with it. I would venture to speculate that, solely, a downtown Stadium complex could cause a downtown-centric boom. It is the kind of project that draws interest from across -- not only the City -- but the entire central/northern Alberta Region -- to give it an analogy it would become the West Edmonton Mall of the sporting world -- a tourist attraction, an entertainment hub for locals, a business attractor, and a generator of higher class developments.
2. The entire cost -- Stadium, Apartments, Hotel, et al would come to something very close to $2 Billion. A CRL would be very useful to defray some of the minor costs. Building on the success model of the Current arena and its adjacent build-outs, financing would be achievable with relative ease on the International market. Edmonton would not longer get passed over for major National and International Sporting events.

 

[archited]

A refresh of Commonwealth Stadium is therefore on the radar of Edmonton City Council.

Oh, Commonwealth Stadium could become the jewel of X-games, with continuous events. I wouldn't see it competing with a new stadium. This presents a golden opportunity.

 

[husky]

I suppose quite a bit of the design work for any stadium modernization is pretty advanced considering the effort put into the World Cup bid.

 

[Ned]

A Commonwealth Games or Pan-American Games bid should be explored for the future. I personally believe this should involve Commonwealth Stadium. Yes, I would like to have the stands closer to the field, but would forego for a successful bid (though could Commonwealth still have a lower field but with removable stands to accommodate room for a track?). We did show interest for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, so it has been thought of recently. From what I can see, Hamilton has a strong case for winning the 2030 Commonwealth Games, partly to recognize the 100th anniversary of the first games hosted there. It would be unprecedented for the same country to host the games back to back, so Edmonton could look at the 2038 games (Australia hosted in 2018 and is hosting is 2026, so 8 years apart for the same country is doable). Edmonton could bid for the 2031 Pan-American Games but would likely have to compete against Winnipeg where support is mounting for a bid.

 

[Ned]

Yes, it's an article from August 2022 but it was reposted on Twitter today by Urban Affairs, so probably still very relevant. It gives some information on what the proposed changes to Commonwealth Stadium would be. They talk to Victor Cui and Tim Cartmell.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1621582799277883392

 

[IanO]

Multiple sources confirmed to CTV News that an Alberta group is putting together a potential bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Calgary, and surrounding communities, and might make the proposal public early next month. Edmonton last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978, although the city made formal bids for both 2022 and 2026 that were withdrawn.

Calgary News – Local Breaking, Weather and Traffic – CTV News Calgary

Get top stories and video from Calgary, Alberta, including breaking news, live coverage, weather, traffic, in-depth reporting, sports and local events.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

 

[husky]

Multiple sources confirmed to CTV News that an Alberta group is putting together a potential bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Calgary, and surrounding communities, and might make the proposal public early next month. Edmonton last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978, although the city made formal bids for both 2022 and 2026 that were withdrawn.

Calgary News – Local Breaking, Weather and Traffic – CTV News Calgary

Get top stories and video from Calgary, Alberta, including breaking news, live coverage, weather, traffic, in-depth reporting, sports and local events.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

A private item was added to Tuesdays council meeting for Exploration of Major Event Bid, so I assume that's what it would be.

 

[Ned]

https://www.insidethegames.biz/index.php/articles/1134536/alberta-bid-2030-commonwealth-games

 

[YEG imagineer]

^Being the figurehead of the Alberta bid, you would think Roger Jackson would know that the indoor velodrome is already under construction, not in planning phase. This whole exercise seems a way to give Calgary a boost. Edmonton already has all the facilities and more to host it themselves.

 

[Ned]

Old news but an interesting take. Talks about the deal between the City and the Elks, how to get more people to games and the future of events at Commonwealth. https://urbanaffairs.ca/edmonton-ish/elks-city-make-a-five-year-deal/

 

[EdmTrekker]

Old news but an interesting take. Talks about the deal between the City and the Elks, how to get more people to games and the future of events at Commonwealth. https://urbanaffairs.ca/edmonton-ish/elks-city-make-a-five-year-deal/

What I got out of the article is this quote “The team has not won a home game since Oct. 12, 2019.” If the Elks could win a few games at home my guess is more fans would come out.

 

[Edmcowboy11]

Yup, funny how that works, win a people wanna see it live.

 

[Ned]

If we are being fair, then there is money for Commonwealth Stadium upgrades and the demolition of Northlands Coliseum, would there not? https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/sohi-wa...mith-commits-330m-for-calgary-arena-1.6371354