ProfileProgramBA & Law YearAlumni TitleExecutive Vice-President of Sports & Entertainment, Katz Group Websitewww.revitalizedowntown.ca Favourite Hockey Nickname
|
InterviewIt seems everyone is talking about the arena, and only the arena. Can you give us a sneak peak of the overarching vision for the Edmonton Arena District, aside from the arena?Absolutely! We envision a district with multiple live music venues, bars, restaurants, cafés, residential components, office components, two hotels, a casino, student residences, a community practice rink that doubles as a smaller venue, and something that we call the Winter Garden. The Winter Garden is a one-acre public space that is under roof and spans over 104th Avenue. It will be of iconic architecture and integrate the development north of 104th Avenue into the downtown. It is a critical piece in allowing Edmonton to take its place on the world stage as one of the great northern cities. Sounds promising… How do you think it will help with the environment and urban sprawl?Edmonton has had a monstrous problem with urban sprawl. We are constantly growing at our edges; increasing our environmental footprint, increasing our reliance on automobiles, and increasing our infrastructure costs to extend the city. Here we sit with our downtown core that has infrastructure, is well serviced by transit, and with the new LRT developments, will be extremely well serviced by light rail. Given the district’s physical proximity to the business, retail and government cores in the city, this is the first step in the development of a walking culture. If you could tell every post-secondary student in Edmonton one thing, what would it be?This is about your future. This is about making Edmonton a place you want to be, where you want to raise your family, where you want to do business, where you will be proud to host guests, and ultimately, a vehicle for moving Edmonton forward as a city. |
Gallery
|