Ice District is a $2.5 billion mixed-use sports and entertainment district being developed on of land in Downtown Edmonton and a portion of the neighbourhood of Central McDougall. Its main attraction is Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers professional ice hockey team. When completed the area will be Canada's largest mixed-use and entertainment district.
Landmarks and attractions
Rogers Place
Rogers Place, the home
arena for the
Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League, is the main attraction of the district. Opened on September 8, 2016, it seats 18,500 people for hockey games.
The cost of the arena was around $480 million.
Ford Hall
The
winter garden, named Ford Hall, is a climate-controlled facility that spans 104 Avenue. It is a public gathering space and connects the
Edmonton LRT system with the grand entrance of Rogers Place. There will also be a
pedway connection to the new JW Marriott Edmonton hotel. It opened on September 8, 2016, at a cost of $56.5 million.
Public plaza
There is a public plaza first opened to the public for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and is nicknamed the "Moss Pit" by fans after the late
Joey Moss.
Fan Park
The Baccarat Casino was demolished in 2020 and was replaced by a small
dog park and a 5000-person paved tarmac event centre called the Fan Park.
Community arena
The Edmonton Downtown Community Arena is the home arena of the MacEwan University Griffins hockey teams, and hosts practices for the Oilers and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. It has a
seating capacity of 1000.
Grand Villa Casino Edmonton
The Grand Villa Casino Edmonton opened on September 7, 2016, and is owned by
Gateway Casinos. The
casino is next to Rogers Place in the Ice District. The facility cost $32 million. It replaced the adjacent Baccarat Casino, which operated from 1996 to 2016 and was demolished in 2020.
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The gaming space includes 600 slot machines and 28 table games. The casino has three restaurants.
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In 2019, Gateway Casinos laid off staff and reduced operations to Thursdays through Sundays and when major events were held at Rogers Place. The casino sought to prioritize business on days with greater foot traffic.
Public transportation
Pedways
The
Edmonton Pedway is being expanded with additions to
Edmonton Tower,
Stantec Tower, JW Marriott Edmonton, and Rogers Place, linking them to the existing system by elevated and underground pedways.
Parking facilities
With the new development about 4,000 new parking spaces are being created.
There will also be 5,000–10,000 spaces within a 5-to-10-minute walk from the arena and public plaza.
Major roads include 104 Avenue, 101 Street, and 105 Street.
Transit
The district's main public transportation is handled through the Edmonton Transit Service bus routes (ETS) and Edmonton LRT.
The main LRT station is
MacEwan station, just north of Rogers Place.
With the pedway system additions, four LRT stations will have direct access: MacEwan, Bay/Enterprise, Central, and Churchill stations. A number of Strathcona County Transit and St. Albert Transit bus routes also serve the district.
Office and residential towers
Three new
were/are being constructed in the district, as well as a hotel with private residences above. The City of Edmonton Tower with 29 floors and a height of opened in December 2016, with construction coming to an end in 2017.
Stantec Tower has 66 floors and a height of .
The combined JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences
has 55 floors and a height of ,
was completed in June 2019.
Stantec Tower
Stantec Tower, the headquarters of
Stantec, is the tallest building in Edmonton, and the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto at a height of .
Edmonton Tower
The Edmonton Tower[ is a 29-storey, office building. It was topped-out in early spring 2016 and completed in December 2016. City of Edmonton staff began moving to the tower in November 2016.]
JW Marriott Edmonton & Residences
The JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences was completed in August 2019. The 356-room hotel component, occupying the 1st through 22nd floors, is operated by JW Marriott Hotels.
CWB National Headquarters
CWB is a cancelled office tower in the Ice District. It would have sat at 104 Avenue and 103 Street and been 16 storeys tall.
See also
External links
