Edmonton coliseum to be demolished in 2025
Remembering Rexall place or the venue formally known as Northlands Coliseum. It held its last Oilers game in 2016 and has pretty much been sitting empty since then. The building is slated for demotion sometime after 2025.
The seats are gone and it’s a little dusty. The old concession prices, you won’t find those at rogers place.
Edmonton city council voted to demolish the old coliseum late last year. It hosted its last event, The Canadian Finals Rodeo in 2017. The land it sits on will be redeveloped and sold after the building is torn down.
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It costs the city over 1.2 million dollars a year just to keep the dormant facility running.
Demolition will be tricky. City crews say they have hazardous materials to dispose of like asbestos and mold, meaning they won’t be able to implode it.
“It’s not a good environment for an implosion, especially considering we have the LRT right next door – large transportation corridors right next door – it would be difficult to manage debris. So we’re looking at mechanized demolition,” said Pascale Ladouceur, branch manager for infrastructure planning and design
Another issue for demolition crews is the empty building has become a home to bats, which are a protected species.
Ladoucer says “we can remove them but we have to do it at a certain time in their reproductive cycle and do it in a way that allows them to be relocated.”
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Media were invited to tour the coliseum which has been a piece of Edmonton sports and concert history for decades. Hosting many Oilers Stanley cup finals appearances during the dynasty years as well as the biggest names in music.
Those in charge of redeveloping the land say the plan is to eventually build a new LRT station, after the land is redeveloped it will be sold to developers.
“We would envision an urban plaza for gathering and for use of the transportation system, as well as mixed high-density residential development.
