March 31, 2008

Sports Infrastructure

Committee report recommends new arena facility for Edmonton Oilers

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

The fast skating Edmonton Oilers took a small stride towards getting a new place to call home.

The construction of a new NHL arena and entertainment facility in Edmonton was deemed feasible by a city-appointed committee.

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel established a Leadership Committee last April to study the potential of constructing a new sports and entertainment facility in the city.

The nine-member committee released a 37-page report on March 25.

The report concluded “a downtown sports/entertainment facility in Edmonton is clearly feasible... It provides a unique opportunity to develop an urban sports entertainment district downtown to the benefit of citizens in the city, region and primary catchment areas.”

The committee reached this conclusion after studying other cities, examining financial models and considering different design scenarios.

“There’s never been a better time to have this discussion,” said committee chair Lyle Best. “There’s a clear challenge to Edmonton at this unique time, to be leaders and builders – to be visionary. A new sports and entertainment facility can and should be the heart of a revitalized, urban district downtown.”

The report uses an urban renewal model developed by sports economist Mark S. Rosentraub, who has helped build sports facilities in several U.S. cities, including Columbus, San Diego and Indianapolis.

“What has been learned from the experiences of numerous U.S. cities across more than four decades of building new sports facilities, is that stand-alone arenas surrounded by acres of open parking lots tend to become lost opportunities for development and the building of a city’s image,” explained Rosentraub in the report.

For this reason, the committee recommends that the sports/entertainment facility be designed as an anchor in a broad development project that stimulates the revitalization within an urban district of downtown Edmonton.

Vibrant urban cores and downtown areas are considered vital assets in the competition for human capital in the modern economy.

“The companies that will define the future growth of every nation choose to locate where the best and brightest workers want to live,” Rosentraub said.

“Increasingly, this is in or near downtown areas of urban centres, which have invested to make their core areas vital and unique.”

The committee’s evaluation of the proposal identified six urban districts in the downtown area, as well as specific sites. The criteria used to assess potential individual sites included a minimum site size of 5.05 acres for the arena portion of the facility.

Other criteria included the capability to maximize adjacent parking, proximity to transit and additional parking as well as compatibility with proposed downtown improvements.

Several sites met the criteria, but the location of specific sites was not disclosed for commercial and competitive reasons.

The finance subcommittee estimated that it would cost about $450 million to build the new facility, not including land assembly.

According to the report, Daryl Katz is the key potential player in this development project.

Katz, who is in the process of buying the Edmonton Oilers, said he would contribute $100 million towards a downtown arena facility.

The rest of the money would be raised through a mix of public and private participation.

“We are confident this can be achieved with no tax increases and no re-allocation of funding for the city’s infrastructure,” said Charlotte Robb, spokesman for the finance subcommittee.

Rexall Place was built in 1974 and is one of the smallest and oldest sports venues in the NHL. Northlands, owners and operators of Rexall Place, commissioned a study by the architectural firm HOK Sports to assess the future life and capacity of the arena.

The study released in February 2007 estimated the cost of modernizing Rexall Place at $250 million.

The HOK study determined that a multipurpose facility that meets the needs of an NHL franchise would include; 750,000 sq. ft. total area, 18,000 seats for hockey, 35,000 sq. ft. practice ice sheet and facilities, 64 luxury suites, 21,500 sq. ft. club lounge, 16,000 sq. ft. member’s restaurant, 7,500 sq. ft. commercial restaurant and a 10,000 sq. ft. administrative office.

Rosentraub is a professor at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.

He has worked with the San Diego Padres and the City of San Diego by designing a Ballpark District plan and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to consider how their assets and activities can advance urban redevelopment.

He also helped the mayor’s office in Los Angeles with some of its downtown redevelopment work involving the Staples centre.

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