NEXT MOVE UP TO KATZ
Rogers Place will undergo a baptism by fire this week as the Edmonton Oilers return to the playoffs after 11 years. It’s fitting that the team’s old home where so many championships were forged in the Gretzky-Messier era is also back in the spotlight. The City of Edmonton and Hockey Canada moved a step closer this week in their plan to breathe new life into the storied, but aging and outdated, Northlands Coliseum.
Appropriately, that repurposing also revolves around hockey. The vision is to turn the arena into a hockey centre of excellence with four ice sheets, an indoor track, a high-performance dryland training facility, offices and classroom space. The centre would turn Edmonton into a magnet for high-end training, but also benefit the wider community by opening its doors to children and recreational players in the evenings and weekends.
The plan appears to be a logical and viable repurposing of an iconic piece of local history that maintains its association with hockey. The proposal makes more sense than continuing to operate it as an overflow venue for concerts and sporting events — a second-string Rogers Place.
The city proposes to help fund the $102-million project by closing several single-sheet rinks that were scheduled to be shuttered as their equipment wore out.
On Tuesday, city council voiced legitimate concerns on the hockey-centric nature of the proposal and the loss of neighbourhood recreation opportunities. Council asked staff to explore other uses for the old rinks and find other sports groups like indoor soccer and lacrosse to participate in the planning.
With those sensible steps, council then voted to have officials develop a memorandum of understanding with Hockey Canada that will come back to council on May 30.
Staff also have until then to secure written support from the Katz Group, whose Oilers Entertainment Group owns the Oilers and operates Rogers Place. The project needs the company’s approval because it has a veto on any sport or entertainment use for the Coliseum under the downtown arena deal it reached with the city.
The puck is now in the Katz Group’s end; surely, it won’t fire the puck into its own net by refusing to sign off on a plan that stands to benefit the community, and the company by eliminating the Coliseum as a competitor for events.
With the city having agreed to an arena deal so advantageous for the Katz Group, it’s hard to imagine the company provoking the community’s ill will by opposing the repurposing of Northlands Coliseum.