Ice District is a $2.5 billion

mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to som ...

sports and entertainment district being developed on of land in

Downtown Edmonton Downtown Edmonton is the central business district of Edmonton, Alberta. Located at the geographical centre of the city, the downtown area is bounded by 109 Street to the west, 105 Avenue to the north, 97 Street to the east, 97 Avenue and Rossdale ...

and a portion of the neighbourhood of

Central McDougall Central McDougall is a largely residential neighbourhood in the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada located immediately north of the downtown core. Located within the neighbourhood are the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the Prince of Wales Armory, t ...

. Its main attraction is Rogers Place, the home arena of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

professional ice hockey team. When completed the area will be Canada's largest mixed-use and entertainment district. The developers of the district are the Katz Group and the ONE Development Group. On July 13, 2015, it was announced that the area of the city surrounding the arena from 101 and 104 Street to 103 and 106 Avenue would be referred to as "Ice District" – a name created by

Daryl Katz Daryl Allan Katz (born May 31, 1961) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Katz is founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately-owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainmen ...

Landmarks and attractions

Rogers Place

Ice District Construction - July 2017 - (36228354735)

Rogers Place, the home

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

for the

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

, is the main attraction of the district. Opened on September 8, 2016, it seats 18,500 people for hockey games. The cost of the arena was around $480 million.

Ford Hall

The

winter garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...

, named Ford Hall, is a , climate-controlled facility, that spans 104 Avenue. It is a public gathering space and connects the

Edmonton LRT Edmonton Light Rail Transit, commonly referred to as the LRT, is a light rail system in Edmonton, Alberta. Part of the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS), the system has 18 stations on two lines and of track. As of 2018, it is number seven on the ...

with the grand entrance of Rogers Place. There will also be a

pedway Pedways (short for pedestrian walkways) are elevated or underground walkways, often connecting urban high-rises to each other, other buildings, or the street. They provide quick and comfortable movement from building to building, away from traff ...

connection to the new

JW Marriott JW Marriott is a luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott International. History The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of the first hotel in Washington, D.C. It was named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the founder of Ma ...

hotel. It opened on September 8, 2016, at a cost of $56.5 million.

Public plaza

There is a public plaza first opened to the public for the

2022 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on May 2, 2022, one day after the 2021–22 NHL regular season, and concluded on June 26, 2022, with the Colorado Avalanche winnin ...

and is nicknamed the "Moss Pit" by fans after the late Joey Moss.

Community arena

The Edmonton Downtown Community Arena is the home arena of the

MacEwan University , mottoeng = , type = Public University , established = , closed = , founder = , parent = , academic_affiliations = AUCC, ACCC, AACTI ...

Griffins hockey teams, and hosts practices for the Oilers and the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers. ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

. It has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

of 1000.

Grand Villa Casino Edmonton

Edmonton ICE District Grand Villa Casino (42525408655)

The Grand Villa Casino Edmonton is a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, that opened on September 7, 2016, and is owned by

Gateway Casinos Gateway Casinos and Entertainment is a Canadian gaming and entertainment operator. It operates 23 casinos in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The corporate offices of Gateway Casinos and Entertainment are located in Burnaby, British Colum ...

. It is located next to Rogers Place in the Ice District in

. The facility cost $32 million. It replaced the adjacent Baccarat Casino, which operated from 1996 to 2016 and which was demolished later in 2020. The gaming space includes 600 slot machines and 28 table games. The casino has three restaurants. In 2019, Gateway Casinos laid off staff and announced the casino would only be open 4 days a week. The casino suspended operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and did not reopen until July 2022.

Public transportation

Pedways

The

Edmonton Pedway The Edmonton Pedway system is a network connecting office buildings, shopping centres, and parkades in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It consists of approximately of year-round climate-controlled tunnels, and walkways between the second fl ...

is being expanded with additions to Edmonton Tower,

Stantec Tower Stantec Tower is a 66-storey above and 4 underground, mixed-use skyscraper in Ice District in the downtown core of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. On May 23, 2018, it reached a construction height of and surpassed the JW Marriott Edmonton Ice D ...

JW Marriott Edmonton The JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences is a mixed-use skyscraper in Edmonton, Alberta as part of the downtown Ice District. It is a combination of a JW Marriott hotel in the lower section, with residential condos named Legends Pr ...

, and Rogers Place, linking them to the existing system by elevated and underground pedways.

Parking facilities

With the new development about 4,000 new parking spaces are being created. As well there will be 5,000–10,000 within a 5-to-10-minute walk from the arena and public plaza. Major roads include 104 Avenue, 101 Street, and 105 Street.

Transit

The district's main public transportation is handled through the

Edmonton Transit Service The Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) (previously known as Edmonton Transit System) is the public transit service owned and operated by the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It operates Edmonton's bus and light rail systems. In , the system h ...

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

(ETS) and

Edmonton Light Rail Transit Edmonton Light Rail Transit, commonly referred to as the LRT, is a light rail system in Edmonton, Alberta. Part of the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS), the system has 18 stations on two lines and of track. As of 2018, it is number seven on the ...

(LRT). The main LRT station is

MacEwan station MacEwan station is an Edmonton Light Rail Transit station on the Metro Line in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is located across from MacEwan University on 105 Avenue between 103 and 104 Street. The station opened on September 6, 2015. History Con ...

, located just north of Rogers Place. With the pedway system additions, four LRT stations will have direct access; this includes MacEwan, Bay/Enterprise,

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

, and

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

stations. A number of

Strathcona County Transit Strathcona County Transit provides local, commuter, and school bus services to the community of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, which is east of Edmonton in Strathcona County. Transportation for elderly citizens and people with disabilities is p ...

and St. Albert Transit bus routes also serve the district.

Office and residential towers

Ice District - Edmonton - July 2017 (35460177744)

Three new

office building An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific ...

s were/are being constructed in the district, as well as a hotel with private residences above. The City of Edmonton Tower with 29 floors and a height of opened in December 2016, with construction coming to an end in 2017.

has 66 floors and a height of . The combined

Ice District & Residences has 55 floors and a height of , was completed in June 2019.

Stantec Tower

, the new headquarters of

Stantec Stantec Inc. is an international professional services company in the design and consulting industry. The company was founded in 1954, as ''D. R. Stanley Associates'' in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Stantec provides professional consulting servi ...

, is the tallest building in Edmonton, and the tallest building west of Toronto at a height of . Thirty-three stories will be dedicated towards residential units.

Edmonton Tower

The Edmonton Tower is a 29-storey tall,

in the Ice District area of Edmonton. It was topped-out in early spring 2016, and completed in December 2016. City of Edmonton staff began moving to the tower in November 2016. It is Edmonton's eighth tallest building.

JW Marriott Edmonton & Residences

The

JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences The JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District & Residences is a mixed-use skyscraper in Edmonton, Alberta as part of the downtown Ice District. It is a combination of a JW Marriott hotel in the lower section, with residential condos named Legends Pri ...

was completed in August 2019. The 356-room hotel component, occupying the 1st through 22nd floors, is operated by

JW Marriott Hotels JW Marriott is a luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott International. History The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of the first hotel in Washington, D.C. It was named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the founder of Mar ...

. It has for conference halls and a ballroom. This is the third hotel of this brand in Canada. Residential condominiums known as the Legends Private Residences occupies the 23rd through 54th floors above the hotel.

CWB National Headquarters

CWB is an under construction office tower in the Ice District. It will sit at 104 Avenue and 103 Street and be 16 storeys tall. In March 2019, it was announced that a Loblaws CityMarket would serve as the anchor tenant for the retail podium, with construction slated to begin "immediately." The retail podium is expected to completed in early 2022., and the tower portion of the project is expected to be complete in 2025.

References

External links

* {{Katz Group Culture of Edmonton Ice hockey in Edmonton Tourist attractions in Edmonton Entertainment districts in Canada Katz Group 2015 establishments in Alberta