Cost to demolish Coliseum at least $15.5M, report says
Keeping former Oilers’ home open without major tenant is ‘unviable’
EDMONTON Tearing down Northlands Coliseum could cost up to three times more than originally expected, but the building doesn’t appear to have any uses that make economic sense, a new report says.
The price to demolish the former home of the Edmonton Oilers is estimated at between $15.5 million and $25 million, compared to the $8.8 million to $10.5 million cal- culated by Northlands last year, according to a city report released Friday.
But razing it might be the best option because it will cost about $1.5 million per year to leave the Coliseum boarded up once the city takes control and shuts it down Jan. 1, according to the document city councillors are expected to discuss next Tuesday.
“Given the unique nature of the facility, the cost of re-purposing for any alternative use renders the options explored unviable.”
Although councillors haven’t decided what they’ll do with the arena linked to the Oilers’ Stanley Cup glory days, Mayor Don Iveson questioned last month whether it’s worth keeping the structure and told a colleague it might be time to “rip the cover off the Band-Aid.”
However, the triangle of land around the Coliseum might be available for farmers’ markets, small local festivals or other interim uses, city manager Linda Cochrane told a news conference.
The future of the entire 65-hectare site, which the city is now calling the Edmonton Exhibition lands, is up in the air.
Northlands lost the financial ability to run its programs when the Oilers moved to Rogers Place, and the Expo Centre is being put under the control of the Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (EEDC), which operates the Shaw Conference Centre.
The transfer of Expo Centre administration means the loss of 60 to 70 full-time Northlands jobs, although people are being accommodated if possible by EEDC, said Todd Burge, the city’s branch manager of financial services and utilities.
The city will take control of the entire site next fall once horse racing is finished.
There’s no guarantee K-Days will run at the grounds for more than another decade, and possibly less, Burge said.
“The agreement today that we have is K-Days and Farm Fair will operate on the Northlands site for at least the next five years and the option for five more years, based on what happens in the redevelopment.”
Officials intend to gather public input and prepare a vision for the area by the middle of next year. Cochrane said there haven’t been any discussions about where else K-Days could be held, but the site is likely to see a major redevelopment.