Coliseum on the cusp of demolition after council vote

Signing off on permanent closure will leave city ahead by at least $5M: Iveson

HINA ALAM

The Coliseum is officially closed, bringing it one step closer to demolition.

Late Friday afternoon city council voted to terminate the agreement with the Katz Group, which had the city paying $2 million a year to the Oilers Entertainment Group.

“In all likelihood the Coliseum will need to be removed from the site as part of the redevelopment of the site,” Mayor Don Iveson said. “Permanent closure always meant that it wasn’t going to be used in any way shape or form the way we’ve remembered it to be used.”

Now the city will consider next steps for the future of the building and the area.

Things got emotional when councillors debated for and against a motion put forward by Coun. Tony Caterina, who asked for more time to consider different options.

The city considered dozens of different scenarios for the building, Iveson said. But the cost to retrofit a building from the 1970s, he pointed out, with a lot of asbestos and other building materials that were popular at that time, which is essentially a big cylinder with awkward structural elements that hold up the stands, is not going to be inexpensive.

“At best we get a buck for the building,” he said. “Lots of people have lots of zany ideas. They would have all cost tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars that we don’t have.”

By signing off on the permanent closure the city will come out ahead, the mayor said.

The cost of the land without the building is in the $13 million range, he said.

“Let’s not forget, we sign this deal today, which essentially commits us to clearing the building from the site, which we’ve heard could cost between $15 million and $25 million, so let’s take the worst-case scenario — $25 million — less the $17 million which we are getting back ... and you have $13 million that you get back from selling the land ... and you’re up at least $5 million,” he said.

Iveson said there is still a possibility that the site could be sold to a private developer with an agreement to remove the building much more cost effectively than the city.

Caterina expressed his disappointment. He said he was closely working with two groups that are interested in the site but “asked to remain in private” until legal clarification could be received.

A master agreement between the city and the Edmonton Arena Corp., an affiliate of the Oilers Entertainment Group, says that if future zoning of the land or the area development plan requires a sports or entertainment facility, the city would be considered in contravention of the agreement signed in 2013 as part of the Rogers Place development.

Caterina said one of the interested parties was affiliated with the film industry and the other was associated with artificial intelligence.

He said he could not reveal all the details to the councillors even in private sessions.

“Give me some detailed information,” said Coun. Michael Walters, who voted in favour of terminating the agreement. “Tell me a name, tell me what the idea is.”

It’s time to move on, he said. “Part of my heart aches for the waste of a 40-year-old building,” Walters said. “By and large I have come to a solid conclusion that we need to move on from that building and do something different.”