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$50mil, huge amount of archeological/indigenous considerations to start.

Build a cool mixed used north of the ballpark with some great brew pubs and patios, call it a day.
 
DYK that this pump house had some preliminary work done to it to make it accessible and ready for a food/bev operator and even had guardrails installed to have a nice patio overlooking the river... but it went nowhere and seems to have been forgotten about.

:(

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While I sometimes appreciate our desire to do things our own way without regard to elsewhere, I find the ongoing bureaucratic inertia or indifference to developing the power plant and the empty space in Rossdale particularly frustrating.

We have something here that could be a great asset, which we don't seem to really realize or understand.
 
One of the problems i see is that we, as a city, have far too many retail complexes and malls and power centers, in the way that we don't need another retail complex down there. The use for Rossdale then needs to be geared to cultural and/or entertainment based in its usage. Now if it is cultural, what could go there that would draw lots of people.. Also how do people get there. The one proposal of the gondola was perfect as it made it easiest for people to get there from the north and the south.
 
Edmcowboy11 said:
One of the problems i see is that we, as a city, have far too many retail complexes and malls and power centers, in the way that we don't need another retail complex down there. The use for Rossdale then needs to be geared to cultural and/or entertainment based in its usage. Now if it is cultural, what could go there that would draw lots of people.. Also how do people get there. The one proposal of the gondola was perfect as it made it easiest for people to get there from the north and the south.
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I agree that we have a lot of retail, although unfortunately much of it is really not that central. I feel the power plant could be something like Vancouver's Granville Island but with more cultural and entertainment.

A lot of people, especially visitors and residents, already go to the river valley and this area in particular. I actually don't think getting here is as hard as we think, there are nearby bus routes and parking already near the ball park.
 
David A said:
I agree that we have a lot of retail, although unfortunately much of it is really not that central. I feel the power plant could be something like Vancouver's Granville Island but with more cultural and entertainment.

A lot of people, especially visitors and residents, already go to the river valley and this area in particular. I actually don't think getting here is as hard as we think, there are nearby bus routes and parking already near the ball park.
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The Forks in Winnipeg might be a better analog for what would work here.
 
I haven't been to the Forks, so I can't say if it would be better or not. We are actually a much bigger city than Winnipeg, but smaller than Vancouver, so it might be something that has elements of each.
 
David A said:
I haven't been to the Forks, so I can't say if it would be better or not. We are actually a much bigger city than Winnipeg, but smaller than Vancouver, so it might be something that has elements of each.
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we're bigger than Winnipeg, but the city dynamics are much similar than to that of Vancouver's. Harsh winters, flat lands and more sprawling suburbs.
It's also interesting the notice that Edmonton's population is to Vancouver what Winnipeg's is to Edmonton's (about half), but in terms of absolute numbers, we're far closer to Winnipeg than to Vancouver.
 
IanO said:
DYK that this pump house had some preliminary work done to it to make it accessible and ready for a food/bev operator and even had guardrails installed to have a nice patio overlooking the river... but it went nowhere and seems to have been forgotten about.

:(

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Do you have more info/insight on this? Was it really done for a food & bev operator? Per Streetview, in July 2024 the 'patio' area railings weren't installed yet--for a gov't project, not unsurprising to not have much movement while awaiting funding/approvals/direction/leadership changes, etc. Particularly for anything that is related to this sensitive area (river valley, Indigenous grounds).

Assuming this is an EPCOR asset still, not CoE?
 
Exactly, we are right in between. I think disposable income wise Edmonton is probably better than both, so that is a positive, although our river valley is more disconnected from the center of the city than Winnipeg.

However, back to my main point which is we really need to do something with this. So compared to either Vancouver , Winnipeg, London Battersea or probably a long list of other places we embarrassingly fall way short.
 
David A said:
Exactly, we are right in between. I think disposable income wise Edmonton is probably better than both, so that is a positive, although our river valley is more disconnected from the center of the city than Winnipeg.

However, back to my main point which is we really need to do something with this. So compared to either Vancouver , Winnipeg, London Battersea or probably a long list of other places we embarrassingly fall way short.
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We definitely need to activate the powerplant, but I also feel like the whole area needs to be a catalyst for residential development there. I would love to see some things like they have around Beltline in Calgary, with urban format grocery and a few extra amenities, embedded into a podium or something. I feel like one of the reasons I've never looked at Rossdale to live in Edmonton is the idiotic level of car dependency, despite the proximity to downtown.
 
Rossdale or at least the eastern part closer to the river was an area of older single family homes that were replaced by nicer single family homes in the 1980's. It is a very nice area, but small with little retail and amenities. You do have to drive elsewhere for that.

The western, perhaps not as desirable part was left to deteriorate and has gradually become primarily many empty lots. This could easily be an area for multi family development, with more retail and amenities, but for decades we seem to have been stuck. The lack of retail and amenities in the area makes it less desirable for residential development and the lack of more residential development makes having more retail and amenities unlikely.
 
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