Edmonton seeks ideas to repurpose Rossdale power plant

The City of Edmonton is seeking ideas on how to transform the site of the decommissioned Rossdale power plant in Edmonton’s Central River Valley.

The historic landmark is also sacred space for Edmonton’s Indigenous people.

“We have about 30-31 people that are buried there from Papaschase,” said Chief Calvin Bruneau, Papaschase First Nation, some whose ancestors are also buried at the site.

The land once home to fur trading sites was where First Nations gathered in the 1800s.

In the 1930s, construction started on the Rossdale power plant and was completed in the 50s. But the site was fully decommissioned in 2012, and the building has bee empty since then. The power plant designated a provincial historical resource.

As the city begins to repurpose the empty building, the River Crossing redevelopment plan proposes parts of the area redeveloped to add more housing and infrastructure.

While the river crossing plan goes through consultation from Indigenous groups, Chief Bruneau said he wants to see more recognition of the Indigenous history of the land and the people buried there. 

Community leaders living nearby said that while they welcome more celebration of Indigenous history, they just wanted the old power plant building being put to good use.

In the past, a plan for a gondola or a culture hub didn’t move forward.

Lynn Parish, who has lived in Rossdale for over 30 years, said she had been involved in discussions about potential re-use of the power plant since 2012.  She said while excited to see new ideas, she was skeptical about them because no progress had been made and that any project would come with huge costs.

“I think we would like to see it used,” Parish said. “That’s the fundamental proposition.”

“Because an empty building, especially a historical resource, is probably not want anybody would want to see and it costs money,” she added.