Comments on: Beware the Gift Horse

By: chucker

chucker — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:55:46 +0000

Yeah, especially with all the downtown land that Katz owns. It is prudent business though to look at the option even if it is not what you really want.

By: Racki

Racki — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 17:38:31 +0000

There was an article in the Edmonton Sun saying that Katz group was considering Enoch now as a location. Enoch is an Indian reserve on the western outskirts of Edmonton. There’s a huge casino out there right now. I kind of think this is just more b.s. to try to speed negotiations up.

By: Bostonoiler

Bostonoiler — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 05:38:07 +0000

Anything new on this topic?

By: Bostonoiler

Bostonoiler — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:46:45 +0000

Get it done. It would help downtown. Let me use the example of The New Endlgand Patriots new joint, Patriot Place. People went to Foxboro Mass 8 times a year, maybe more pending playoffs and thats it. With the new hotels, shopping malls, stores, resturants, movie theaters, etc., people now visit it year round.

I think if that is the idea Katz has in mind, then they need to get it built ASAP. It will help the city. If they get the new arena up, it will help Edmonton transform itself, and hopefully influence other city projects down the road to help make downtown a better place.

Just my 2 cents on it…

By: Racki

Racki — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:09:15 +0000

I think I would tend to side with Steve-O here.

However, just call it what it is.. helping Katz and the Oilers out. I am not expecting the arena to revitalize downtown at all, myself.

That said though, I would like to see either Rexall Place receive a major overhaul that brings it up to modern standards, or would like a new arena built. I just don’t think that using this MSI money is really is as pure as they’d like us to believe. If Katz and co use $100M of that towards a new arena, that’s $100M less infrastructure money for repairs to roads, fixing the LRT, etc., etc.

I won’t lose any sleep over that money going to the new arena, because I’d love to have a new arena here. But it almost seems like Stelmach’s “strict legislation” of not helping supporting businesses is being circumvented here. Almost like it’s a semantics thing. “OK.. you can have the money, but we can’t say that the province is funding it.. it has to fall under this special fund instead”.

Anyways, I’m in the “just get it done already” class. That $100M could be better spent, but I will turn a blind eye for a bit.