EDMONTON - The downtown arena development will feature a ground-level pedestrian plaza to better tie the project into street life, a city official said Wednesday.
The plaza at the south end of the pedestrian bridge over 104th Avenue was originally intended to be at bridge height to tie into the pedway system, said Rick Daviss, executive director of the sports and entertainment district.
Now people will come down escalators once they’ve crossed the road, he said.
“It’s in line with a desire to bring everything down to street level and not lift everything up … It will be a place to go whether or not there’s anything on at the arena,” he said.
“It was a strong feeling from members of council, it was a strong input we got from public engagement sessions, and the architect and project manager also had that (positive) experience in other projects.”
The plaza, to be developed on what is now a parking lot east of the Greyhound bus station, will probably be outdoors and surrounded by shops and other businesses, Daviss said.
He hopes to have schematic drawings of the arena ready for city council in May, putting them out for public consultation in June before they receive final approval in July.
An architectural firm is already working on the project, even though its contract hasn’t been finalized, and the scheme is on schedule, he said.
The head of project manager Icon Venue Group has said its preferred architect is 360 Architecture of Kansas City.
The 18,400-seat arena’s budget is set at a maximum $450 million. This will be covered by Oilers owner Daryl Katz, a ticket surcharge, property taxes on future downtown development and other city money.
However, funding is still $100 million short, cash backers hope will come from the provincial government by next year.
In addition, the city will kick in an extra $72 million to $82 million for half the cost of the pedway, land and LRT connections.
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