IanO said:
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Is the City abandoning the plan to return 118th to at grade? You would think that would be an important consideration in this discussion, because their proposed long term solution of using the Coliseum lands for KDays would then require KDays attendees to exit the lands, wait to cross 118th, and then go through re-entry. And what programming are they expecting to use for the Coliseum lands besides KDays when there won't be simple, easy access between the event lands and the EXPO Centre?

Beyond that, won't that mean that the Coliseum lands are essentially empty and vacant for 95%+ of the time? Isn't that exactly what the neighbouring communities did not want with the demolition and redevelopment of the Coliseum lands?

Feels like the City is creating their own problems and then pursuing the most convoluted solutions to resolve them. Plan for residential and/or commercial on the Coliseum lands and retain the required existing space for KDays/other events that's actually adjacent to the EXPO Centre. What am I missing here?
 
northlands said:
Is the City abandoning the plan to return 118th to at grade? You would think that would be an important consideration in this discussion, because their proposed long term solution of using the Coliseum lands for KDays would then require KDays attendees to exit the lands, wait to cross 118th, and then go through re-entry. And what programming are they expecting to use for the Coliseum lands besides KDays when there won't be simple, easy access between the event lands and the EXPO Centre?
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I hope they keep 118th Ave below-grade, not just to maintain uninterrupted access between the Coliseum grounds and the current exhibition grounds, but also because what’s the point of adding an at-grade LRT crossing to a busy east-west roadway? Especially on a railway ROW with the space for a potential regional rail/Via Rail spur to Downtown? I also really want them to essentially move almost all the main programming of K-Days (the rides, food, games, concerts and exhibitions) to the old Coliseum lands, with some stuff on the lot north of the Expo Centre. That way, most of the event is facing the nicer front side of the Expo and it’s way closer to the train station. Obviously, you have to keep that pedway above 118th Ave for this. Not sure how you tie in Klondike Park with the rest of the fair in this scenario, but at least now you can open up the bulk of land south of the Expo for contiguous development.

northlands said:
Beyond that, won't that mean that the Coliseum lands are essentially empty and vacant for 95%+ of the time? Isn't that exactly what the neighbouring communities did not want with the demolition and redevelopment of the Coliseum lands?
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We could move the Expo parking lot up to the old Coliseum lands as the south parking lot along Wayne Gretzky Drive get redeveloped. The Expo still gets events throughout the year that would make good use of it. The only con is during the 10 days of K-Days itself, you lose almost all the parking, but the LRT access is great, and as the system expands, there will be plenty of new park'n'rides (Lewis Farms, Heritage Valley). Speaking of park'n'rides, in the 95% of the year when K-Days isn't on, we're left with a giant asphalt lot by an LRT station and close to a major regional highway. I think we have a good idea of what it could be used for...
 
IanO said:
For me it is more about the loss of a major exhibition grounds, racetrack/facility and economic driver; I know that Explore Edmonton and others have concerns about this.

The last thing that we need right now is yet another significant residential redevelopment site like this.

Maybe let's finish Blatchford (and the Quarters) first?
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The horseracing ship sailed when Northlands went under and Century Mile was built at EIA, so I'm not sad at all that the spectrum and racetrack are going away. We do need to continue to have space for KDays though.
 
Not every empty piece of land near transit needs to turn into housing. With how close this is to the LRT, it feels like a missed opportunity not to keep some of it for bigger recreational space too. Just look at what Coronation Park has become, there’s clearly value in that kind of thing. You could have a mix of tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, even ice rinks, all building off what’s already at Borden Park. It could really connect the whole stretch from Commonwealth to the Coliseum into something more cohesive. with the rec centre already there too you could create this into an athletic hub for casual to professional play. Imagine even a recreational lake for rowing etc... (what blatchford was supposed to have...) I'd like to see housing compliment a broader vision rather than be the main objective.

I guess to put shortly: i'd like to see more vision and imagination behind these things, with a broader look at the whole city and what latent potentials that might exist instead of suffocating every opportunity with ugly low rises and calling it a day.
 
They should have reserved sufficient hard and soft surfaces area immediately south of the Expo Centre to host K-Days and it should also be visually accessible from the LRT to try and entice people to attend (and to use transit to and from)..

Outside of K-Days, that space could host the exterior component for conventions that need exterior show spaces as well as indoor meeting spaces - Peterbilt, Kenworth, Massey-Fergusson, Caterpillar, Bombardier, Siemens, John Deere, etc. These groups all have annual conventions and trade shows that are now all held at the same relatively limited locations year after year because few cities can give them that exterior component. More localized events like motorsport gymkhanas or annual winter driving skill courses or tire testing could also take place along with smaller scale outdoor concerts (if the noise could be managed)...

All of these events would support local retail as those components get added to the area and all of them could use downtown hotels and amenities with LRT and event shuttles connecting things (as they do in Vegas and Miami etc.).
 
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kcantor said:
They should have reserved sufficient hard and soft surfaces area immediately south of the Expo Centre to host K-Days and it should also be visually accessible from the LRT to try and entice people to attend (and to use transit to and from)..

Outside of K-Days, that space could host the exterior component for conventions that need exterior show spaces as well as indoor meeting spaces - Peterbilt, Kenworth, Massey-Fergusson, Caterpillar, Bombardier, Siemens, John Deere, etc. These groups all have annual conventions and trade shows that are now all held at the same relatively limited locations year after year because few cities can give them that exterior component. More localized events like motorsport gymkhanas or annual winter driving skill courses or tire testing could also take place along with smaller scale outdoor concerts (if the noise could be managed)...

All of these events would support local retail as those components get added to the area and all of them could use downtown hotels and amenities with LRT and event shuttles connecting things (as they do in Vegas and Miami etc.).
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Good ideas. The city seems to have been focused mainly on residential development, which given all the people coming here in recent year does make some sense. However, now that growth is slowing and frankly this area is probably not the most desireable for residential only, so probably time to revisit what is being planned here.
 
David A said:
Good ideas. The city seems to have been focused mainly on residential development, which given all the people coming here in recent year does make some sense. However, now that growth is slowing and frankly this area is probably not the most desireable for residential only, so probably time to revisit what is being planned here.
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It can't all just be about residential growth and density - there still has to be things for those people to do and for visitors to do or what's the point of it all...
 
^ We could become Canada's extra-large, under-priced, blah-de-blah-blah aesthetic hole, bedroom community. There would be some cheerleaders for that outcome. I'm with you @kcantor -- the Alberta Avenue precinct has over the years lost much of its raison d'être; seems to be a game of subtraction that continues endlessly.
 
northlands said:
Is the City abandoning the plan to return 118th to at grade? You would think that would be an important consideration in this discussion, because their proposed long term solution of using the Coliseum lands for KDays would then require KDays attendees to exit the lands, wait to cross 118th, and then go through re-entry. And what programming are they expecting to use for the Coliseum lands besides KDays when there won't be simple, easy access between the event lands and the EXPO Centre?

Beyond that, won't that mean that the Coliseum lands are essentially empty and vacant for 95%+ of the time? Isn't that exactly what the neighbouring communities did not want with the demolition and redevelopment of the Coliseum lands?

Feels like the City is creating their own problems and then pursuing the most convoluted solutions to resolve them. Plan for residential and/or commercial on the Coliseum lands and retain the required existing space for KDays/other events that's actually adjacent to the EXPO Centre. What am I missing here?
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It has to do with phasing. The current plan focuses on the land on the most southwest part of the site and slowly works north. A lot of that will be dependent on demand. Concurrently focusing on the northern coliseum lands is a bigger lift. Given the absorption concerns some have pointed out here, probably best to do this incrementally and have them continue on the south portion, particularly when they already have Cantiro on board. I imagine Cantiro would prefer to see the south continue to grow and expand first to support their investment. The report states the idea is to use the coliseum lands as an interim use for K-days, then revisit in the future (future is used liberally; I believe it's a 20-30 year span, since the southern developments aren't going to happen overnight).
 
www.ctvnews.ca

City council asks Exhibition Lands plan be tweaked to keep event space around Expo Centre

Edmonton’s city council is asking administration to reconsider part of its vision for the redevelopment of the Exhibition Lands into a residential area so major events such as summer’s KDays can still be staged there.
www.ctvnews.ca www.ctvnews.ca

globalnews.ca

Edmonton to rework Exhibition Land plans after Expo Centre viability concerns raised - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

The long-term plans for Edmonton's exhibition lands is being sent back to the drawing board after concerns were raised about the Expo Centre and its ability to host major events.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
 
MacLac said:
There is a quote by Cantiro somewhere around here that loosely states, "will start the first of 200 homes by the end of 2026 when the land has been serviced." So whatever the first "200 homes" looks like is anyone's guess.....
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Have we seen any updates on what is planned for this site? Alot going on there but no details at all.
 
Screenshot 2026-05-29 at 2.19.35 PM.png
 
IanO said:
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This seems like a move that people will regret someday. Ditto with Saddledome if Calgary follows through.

Is there something with the Alberta psyche that makes following Vancouver's lead on these things impossible to do?

The city still has its flaws, but they've done a lot of things right that other Canadian cities should be learning from.
 
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