Financing For Proposed Downtown Edmonton Arena Under Debate

Former Owner Says Oilers' Future In Edmonton Won't Be Secure Unless New Arena Is Built

Former Oilers Owner Cal Nichols said that the "future of the Oilers franchise won't be secure in Edmonton unless a new arena is built," according to David Staples of the EDMONTON JOURNAL. Nichols, who is serving as an advisor on the new downtown Edmonton arena proposal, said, "If we in this city don't do something, who in this city is going to want to own that team and keep it here?" Staples noted Rexall Place is the "second-oldest and smallest NHL arena," but the Oilers "have yet to finalize plans for a new arena on the downtown Baccarat casino lands, either in terms of design or finances." Oilers President & CEO Patrick LaForge said that it is "possible a new arena could be built elsewhere in the Edmonton area." LaForge said other locations "around the edge of the city" are "probably more economical, but nothing will have as much impact on the city" as a downtown arena. An Edmonton committee that looked at the city's arena situation "recommended that there be a 70/30 public-private split on building" a C$450M downtown arena, and that the city "could pay off the loan for building the arena through various measures, including [C$11M] a year from arena revenues and a Community Revitalization Levy, where increases in the property tax base in an arena district would be used to pay off the loan." The arena committee added that C$2.5B of new investment is "to be expected in the arena district" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 12/13).

CITY DIVIDED: The EDMONTON JOURNAL's Staples wrote the "building of a major arena in Edmonton has always been more than a construction project." It has been a "litmus test, a signifier of the city's attitudes, wealth and vision." Some people, like Nichols, are "pushing for the public to invest heavily in a new downtown arena, a building that might well revitalize a massive, desolate chunk of Edmonton's downtown." But the "reality of Edmonton today, just like at times of previous economic downturns, is that many citizens are leery of any major expenditure." Nichols said that the "main impediment to building is that people are against any public money for this project because they see it as helping millionaire athletes who play for a billionaire owner." There also is the "conviction that all that's really being contemplated here is rebuilding a Rexall Place downtown, and there will be little or no benefit from it" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 12/13).