Oilers' Mixed-Use Development Around Future Rogers Place Dubbed "Ice District"

The developers behind the multi-purpose development "under construction around the future Rogers Place" in downtown Edmonton have christened it Ice District, according to Bill Mah of the EDMONTON JOURNAL. The downtown parcel had "been called the Edmonton Arena District since developers Katz Group and WAM Development Group first proposed the project." Oilers Owner Daryl Katz "came up with Ice District, but the name was also discussed by stakeholders and partners and vetted by focus groups." Oilers Entertainment Group CEO & Vice Chair Bob Nicholson yesterday said, "The Ice District really represents winter, winter sport and hockey." He added that the old name was "too limited in scope" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 7/14). The GLOBE & MAIL's Marty Klinkenberg writes the city of Edmonton is "cozying up to its image as a subarctic outpost by branding its long-awaited dream of a rejuvenated downtown with a bone-chilling identity." Edmonton City Council member Scott McKeen said, "We don’t have to apologize for being a winter city" (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/14). Nicholson said that in addition to "consulting stakeholders," various focus groups and community members "were included in the branding process" (EDMONTON SUN, 7/14).

CHEERS & JEERS: In Edmonton, David Staples writes Katz can be criticized for "building the losingest team in hockey," and "some might also resent him for being so reclusive." But "now and then, Katz gets it right." The Ice District moniker "gives a hat tip to our obsession with hockey, and is far superior to the faceless corporate name so many private projects get." Staples: "It certainly doesn’t help to shrink from winter -- and naming our most important downtown development Ice District is far from shrinking" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 7/14). But also in Edmonton, Paula Simons writes the name "seems a bit desperate, like trying to give yourself a cool nickname." Simons: "Over time, I’m betting, the area will evolve, and take its real name and identity, not from a press kit, but from the Edmontonians who will bring it to life." The developers introduced the name with "an oddly dark and ominous video, vaguely reminiscent of the classic 1984 Apple Macintosh launch ad, that makes Ice District look rather like a futuristic urban dystopia." Meanwhile, McKeen said that the city "had no input into the naming decision." McKeen: "This was a corporate branding exercise for a private development" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 7/14). The JOURNAL's Mah notes the name was "mostly mocked on social media" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 7/14).