Downtown bars welcome new city project and Oilers crowds

Edmonton will have a new designated party street this summer on Rice Howard Way — a boost for those who own bars in the area — in addition to a successful Oilers playoff run.

There’s already a party going on downtown almost every other night, with the Oilers making a deep playoff push to the Stanley Cup final, thousands of fans are packing the ice district to watch games.

Just blocks away at the Sherlock Holmes Pub on Rice Howard Way, owners say they’re not in competition with Ice District crowds.

“It’s different things. Everybody wants to be around the Ice District because of what it is and I get that, people want to be around people. But there’s so many people downtown now for that, it’s just spilling out,” said Jordan Beatty, the operations manager of Sherlock Holmes Hospitality Group.

The City of Edmonton has designated a stretch of Rice Howard Way as a designated entertainment district this summer, in addition to entertainment on the street. Beatty who is one of the businesses partnering with the city on the pilot project explains how it works.

“You come in, grab a beer inside, you go ‘Hey, I see a friend outside.’ you ask someone here for a cup, put it in, you walk out on the street and it’s totally legal,” explained Beatty.

The pilot project that turns Rice Howard Way into a street-wide patio is part of efforts to bring Edmontonians back to the city centre.

Beatty says years after pandemic restrictions lifted, the pub hasn’t seen the full return of lunchtime crowds that they’ve depended on for nearly four decades.

Something big crowds in the Ice District on weekends is starting to alleviate.

“Friday lunch here was huge. Now there’s this split between working from home and then coming downtown to work, so Friday doesn’t really exist anymore. Friday was the day. ‘Oh we’re gonna go for lunch’ and then it turns into late afternoon beers.”

The entertainment district will be in effect this Saturday when Oilers face off against the Florida Panthers.