Edmonton Construction 5

[JAH]

So i guess my hopes for hearing about an office tower by the end of the year is dwindling each day

So if the new Oilers arena gets built, is that the look of the building for sure?

[Coldrsx]

^no, oiler rink is far far away from being settled, these are just "possibilities".


As for Edmonton booming....we definately should be seeing more, however, there is a decent amount going on, but the projects are spread out, public/private, and scales smaller than calgary in general so it isnt as overt.

[CMD UW]

A new pond for the Oil is a few months / years away.

I must admit that I think many forumers are either not appreciating what is going on in Edmonton today or just plain blind. Now I know we want more and could use more, but there is no denying that there is alot going on in and around Edmonton. There are more cranes in the sky than we've seen in 20 years, there are more large scale projects proposed / underway than we've seen in the past, there have been more speculation / rumours regarding new downtown office buildings; something we've not witnessed a mere 1 or 2 years ago.

I think 2007 is going to be quite spectacular and I'm willing to take bets.

[Coldrsx]

^bingo.....there is a lot going on but we do need 1 or 2 more LARGE, skyline altering, 500,000sqft'ing projects to kick off and really make people take notice.

But having said that, drive on 104ave and look south at 112st.....cranes everywhere:>

Robbins - that curtain wall is looking HOT!

[Coldrsx]

FYI - tomo night, EDM COL rematch, 7pm.....pub 1905.


be there.

[on the grid]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^no, oiler rink is far far away from being settled, these are just "possibilities".

That's good. Some design decisions in those drawings seem very questionable, but at least it fits on the lot. It seems like a good place for an arena to me. Urbanistically, entrances on the corners would make the street feel more welcoming/active and better link to the surrounding areas. I think the pyramid is a less-than-half-baked idea which takes away from city hall rather than compliments it. Are those drawings the work of Qualico/Kasian?

[feepa]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^bingo.....there is a lot going on but we do need 1 or 2 more LARGE, skyline altering, 500,000sqft'ing projects to kick off and really make people take notice.

But having said that, drive on 104ave and look south at 112st.....cranes everywhere:>

Robbins - that curtain wall is looking HOT!

I think if anyone needs a re-fresh of all the stuff thats going on around here, take a look at the first page of this thread.

I think people take a look at Calgary too much, and figure we should be like that. I'm sorry, Edmonton is not Calgary. We are definately not the same type of working city as them.

I think people try to make this equation too often: # skyscrapers being built = economic thermometer of the city. This is truly not a city that can be judge by that at all.
I'm sure our industrial growth, in terms of dollars invested in the Edmonton region would put us ahead of Calgary in terms of growth.

[Kevin_foster]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

FYI - tomo night, EDM COL rematch, 7pm.....pub 1905.


be there.

hmm... not that I care, but if you flip burg's at McD's - how do you afford to go to 1905 so religiously Must be a millionaire in disguise.. hmm.....

Anyways, I'm doing my Xmas Shopping tomorrow night at City Center - so maybe if I have time I'll zip on over for a beer and some clarification. I'll need something to eat by then anyways.

[JAH]

With the year about to end, lets hear about your 2006 Edmonton year in review.. good and bad

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by on the grid

That's good. Some design decisions in those drawings seem very questionable, but at least it fits on the lot. It seems like a good place for an arena to me. Urbanistically, entrances on the corners would make the street feel more welcoming/active and better link to the surrounding areas. I think the pyramid is a less-than-half-baked idea which takes away from city hall rather than compliments it. Are those drawings the work of Qualico/Kasian?

At this stage, don't take any of the renderings you've seen for face value. The end product will be much, much different.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Kevin_foster

hmm... not that I care, but if you flip burg's at McD's - how do you afford to go to 1905 so religiously Must be a millionaire in disguise.. hmm.....

Anyways, I'm doing my Xmas Shopping tomorrow night at City Center - so maybe if I have time I'll zip on over for a beer and some clarification. I'll need something to eat by then anyways.

look for a Kurri jersey:>

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by feepa

I think if anyone needs a re-fresh of all the stuff thats going on around here, take a look at the first page of this thread.

I think people take a look at Calgary too much, and figure we should be like that. I'm sorry, Edmonton is not Calgary. We are definately not the same type of working city as them.

I think people try to make this equation too often: # skyscrapers being built = economic thermometer of the city. This is truly not a city that can be judge by that at all.
I'm sure our industrial growth, in terms of dollars invested in the Edmonton region would put us ahead of Calgary in terms of growth.

agreed...and yes that list of projects does show just how much we have going on here...many many cities would be envious. However....with what we have going on in this country, province, city.....there is NOT ENOUGH going up in the middle of this city. Infill is scattered around and generally speaking smaller/medium scaled.

We should have 5-10 more towers going up in the core IMO....not all 40 stories, but there is a general lack of development in the centre of this city.

[tony0911]

I agree with cold ...there can be billions going into development of upgraders and industrial wharehouses...but that's not the kind of city I want to live in...I want a vibrant bussling downtown core.

[Coldrsx]

^granted we have seen many many small improvements in the past 1-2 yrs and a few more coming as we speak:

-ymca
-sobeys
-retail filling up
-bay
-hops
-churchill sq
-WTC
-proff

etc.....


but given everything going on, there is no reason why we shouldnt see:
- that land around BP's turning into a great mixed use village/office/entertainment area.
- a proposed office tower, even if mixed use
- a new hotel
- another 3-5 condo towers in the immediate 5 block radius of the core
- more brand retail investing in the downtown

if we had a 25 storey Hyatt on the melcor site, a 30 storey office tower on the dundee site, and a 27 storey condo tower on the lot around BP's going up, this would show Edmonton is MOVING ON UP.......

[tony0911]

I for one find it a little frightening that we are supposedly in the boom of all booms but yet nothing really major announced or proposed downtown yet. I hope it get's better than this.

[Coldrsx]

"proposed downtown yet"

oh there is a lot out there, but nothing coming soon enough...

[feepa]

Originally Posted by tony0911

I agree with cold ...there can be billions going into development of upgraders and industrial wharehouses...but that's not the kind of city I want to live in...I want a vibrant bussling downtown core.

Our downtown is becoming more vibrant and bussling. I think we all agree that we want more on this.

I think your in the wrong city if you dont want upgraders, and refinerys and warehouses. I think you need to take a look at what occupations make up 50% of the work force here. Its Trades. Oil Trades, Construction Trades, manafucturing jobs. I'm sorry, this city is not the corporate or financial headquarters of companies that build skyscrapers and taller buildings.

We can still acheive the goal of having a vibrant and bussling downtown. This doesn't need to = skyscrapers though. Jasper avenue used to be a lot more of busier place with less.

What we really to get more in the core, is shopping, and entertainment, and condos. We need to worry less about work-force downtown, and more on people living downtown. The more people live downtown, the more companies are going to want to relocate to where the workforce is

Can you imagine what this city would be without the upgraders and refinerys, and well, warehouses? (Theres a much bigger manufacturing sector and industrail sector then just what we've stated and)

I think people fail to realize how much industry in this city keeps this city going.

[Coldrsx]

Demolition innovation at U of A
Cruncher takes on the precise job of taking down the old physics building

Keith Gerein
The Edmonton Journal


Monday, December 18, 2006



CREDIT: Larry Wong, The Journal
A backhoe with a "cruncher" rips up the roof of the physics building at the University of Alberta.

EDMONTON -- Since its construction in 1960, the University of Alberta's physics building has been home to some of Canada's most groundbreaking research and scientific advancement.

It is perhaps fitting, then, that on the eve of its replacement, the structure provided engineers with one final puzzle: What's the best way to knock it down?

Demolition crews knew the task would not be simple, given that they were contending with 7,500 square metres of sturdy brick, steel and concrete.

Would a wrecking ball suffice? How about explosives?

They decided on a seemingly less fun way to dismantle the six-storey behemoth -- pulling it down from the inside, one floor at a time.

"It's a matter of speed and economy," said Bruce Ferguson, the U of A's senior project manager.

"The contractor looked at the wrecking ball and he looked at implosion, and neither were considered cost-effective, relative to how quickly he could take it down by other methods."

The physics building is the last of four structures being destroyed to make room for the massive, $315-million Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science. Already gone are V-Wing lecture theatres, the Centre for Subatomic Research and the chemistry north annex.

Of all the demolitions, the physics building is the largest and most time-consuming. Faculty and research students began moving out of the facility in the summer, after which laboratory equipment, teaching materials and anything else of value was removed.

In mid-October, crews started smashing up the interior. For five weeks, bobcats were driven on each floor, taking down walls and leaving only the basic concrete and steel supports in place.

Then, to take down the exterior, a single backhoe was hoisted onto the roof with a crane. Armed with a hydraulic "cruncher" -- basically a big pair of scissors capable of cutting through solid materials -- the backhoe began ripping up the roof.

Piece by piece, the top was dismantled until the backhoe was sitting on a tiny "island." The operator then used some of the debris to build a ramp down to the next floor. Once safely down, the backhoe pulled down the island.

Crews now plan to repeat this process, floor by floor, until nothing remains. The job is expected to be complete in early February. Some observers might think a wrecking ball would be a faster approach, but Ferguson said it can actually take longer because it is less precise that the backhoes.

"A wrecking ball is actually a pretty slow process. You're swinging, you're knocking and eventually a piece will come down," he said. "The crunchers are very, very precise. They can cut something, nudge it off the edge of the building, and it's gone."

Implosion was deemed too costly, Ferguson said. Although the building comes down in a hurry, setting up the explosives properly can take a long time, and nearby buildings have to be protected from the blast.

Construction on the new interdisciplinary science facility is expected to begin in March and will take about four years. The facility will be a giant, 52,200-square-metre structure that will accommodate 1,100 more undergraduate students and 475 more graduate students.

Included in the design are 2,800 new lecture and lab seats.

The chair of the physics department, John Beamish, said he is looking forward to moving into the new building, which will offer more room, brighter offices and modern labs with much-improved environmental controls.

"I never thought the (old) building was particularly attractive to work in, so I'm not sad to see it go," he said. "One of the complaints I had was that the windows were too small and up too high to see out of when you were sitting down."

Some of his colleagues, however, will miss aspects of the old structure, built for around $2.5 million, he said. On the fourth floor, for example, there was a big room in which the university's first mainframe computer was housed. After the computer was removed, it became a hangout. Around 1986, the facility was officially renamed the Avadh Bhatia Physics Building after a world-renowned theoretical nuclear physicist who helped raise the stature of the university.

Those interested in the demolition can view daily online images from a webcam at ccis.cs.ualberta.ca

[email protected]

© The Edmonton Journal 2006

[Coldrsx]

Mayor launches e-mail bulletin
The Edmonton Journal
Published: Monday, December 18, 2006
EDMONTON -- Coming soon to an e-mail inbox near you -- Mayor Stephen Mandel.

Mandel sent out his first monthly online newsletter Friday in a bid to find additional ways of communicating with the public, chief of staff Patricia Misutka said. "The mayor gets more correspondence by e-mail than any other way ... it's increasingly a preferred method of communication for people across the city."

Along with holiday greetings, his initial "e-link" outlines the program approved this week to build up to 1,000 starter homes on 20 vacant surplus school sites, and applauds Premier Ed Stelmach's plan to give municipalities an extra $1.4 billion over three years.


Email to a friend

Printer friendly
Font: ****"In a lot of ways, it's not all that different from putting out a media release," Misutka said.

The newsletter, which went out to a couple of thousand people, will cost about $200 a month, she said.

Anyone interested in receiving the "e-link" can contact the mayor's office at [email protected].




© The Edmonton Journal 2006

[Coldrsx]

First Nation gambles on new casino outside Whitecourt
Band presses on despite usual counter-arguments

Shawn Ohler
The Edmonton Journal


Monday, December 18, 2006


ALEXIS WHITECOURT RESERVE -- Framed by a graceful stand of towering poplars, Chief Cameron Alexis surveys the serene 30-acre clearing where his band is building a $63.5-million casino, hotel and truck stop.

Alexis has heard the arguments against the project: It will increase crime and problem gambling; finding people to build and staff it will be difficult in Alberta's tight labour market; its unlikely location on the Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation's reserve six kilometres west of Whitecourt makes it an economic gamble.

But Alexis boils down the issue with a no-nonsense approach.

"This project is about survival," Alexis said. "It is about the survival of my people."

The chief hopes the Eagle River Casino and Travel Plaza, which is to open in January 2008 at the junction of highways 43 and 32, will spur Alexis Sioux to move to the Whitecourt reserve, a heavily treed tract that is now uninhabited. Revenues from the casino's dozen table games and 200 slot machines, full-service truck stop and 106-room Marriott Fairfield hotel could also reverse the fortunes of the 900 Alexis band members who live an hour southeast on the First Nation's impoverished main reserve on Lac Ste. Anne's northern shore.

As it is, the chief says, economic prospects on the Alexis reserve are "limited to nil," and unemployment estimates range from 70 to 95 per cent. The reserve needs at least 150 more houses, and the shortage of work and shelter provoke rampant drug and alcohol abuse.

Among Chief Alexis's childhood sports buddies is Ron Morin, the Enoch Cree chief who cited similar hardships as he shepherded the planning and construction of the new $178-million River Cree Resort and Casino on Edmonton's western edge. Like Morin, Alexis sees promise and practicality in Alberta's growing gambling and hospitality industries.

"Here we are with Alberta booming, and it's beyond me to think First Nations have the high unemployment we do," Alexis said.

"This is our best chance to share in this province's prosperity."

Like the Enoch Cree, the Alexis Sioux joined forces with Las Vegas-based Paragon Gaming to build their casino complex. Paragon calls the Alexis development an "interceptor" project whose clientele will be dominated by long-haul truckers motoring down the Highway 43 portion of the so-called "Canamex" transportation corridor.

Paragon has high hopes for Whitecourt, a 10,000-strong boom town fuelled by forestry and oil and gas drilling.

"We look at Whitecourt, halfway between Edmonton and Grande Prairie, as the Red Deer of 20 to 25 years ago," said Paragon's Ryan McQuilter, Eagle River's project development manager.

"There is so much potential there."

But Whitecourt is in the midst of its own construction boom -- the town issued $69 million in development permits in 2006, up from $24 million in 2005 -- and its unemployment rate is virtually nil.

Whitecourt's deputy mayor Nieta World admits she enjoys placing the odd bet, and is thrilled by Eagle River's potential to draw tourists to her town. But she ponders in the same breath a uniquely Albertan dilemma: Where will Paragon and Alexis find enough warm bodies to build Eagle River and staff it?

"Most towns would see it as a great benefit to open a business which would employ approximately 200 people," World said.

"However, our unemployment rate is at zero per cent -- possibly even negative -- and I do not know where they will find the people to work the casino. Many businesses in town are having a hard time keeping workers."

Pastor Dallas Bidell of Whitecourt's Family Worship Centre said his Pentecostal flock is more concerned with the casino's social implications than the economic ones.

"Generally, there's a sense of dread among my congregation," Bidell said. "This kind of thing has happened in other communities where I've served -- Vernon and Langley -- and the crime rate almost invariably goes up and you almost invariably end up with more poverty. ... Gambling is a very insidious addiction and it's fuelled by availability and proximity."

Bidell takes pains to point out that he doesn't "begrudge" Alexis First Nation any future success.

He said he understands the reserve's plight and wants to see its people thrive and succeed.

"I can certainly appreciate they want to enhance their own lives, but I'm not in favour of them doing it at the expense of others -- others who'll gamble away money they will most certainly miss. We're shifting the burden, perhaps, by taking away from one group to give to another."

Chief Alexis winks that church leaders who dislike gambling should "take a look at the bingos they support."

He notes his band will pay for extra RCMP and firefighters once the project is built.

"As a former police officer, I can tell you, crime is already here," said Alexis, whose posts included Mayerthorpe and Edmonton.

He shares World's concern about the labour shortage, but said temporary camps of willing Alexis Sioux workers should put a sizable dent in Eagle River's construction and operation requirements.

Whether there are enough dice-throwing, Hold 'Em-playing truckers to buoy the only casino between Grande Prairie and Edmonton remains to be seen.

But one thing is certain: The Alexis First Nation hasn't had this much cause for optimism in decades.

The chief already has plans for more housing, for programs to counter crack, methamphetamine and gangs, and for further commercial development on the Whitecourt reserve.

Alexis Land Management Corporation president Lyndon Aginas, whose first fastball coach was Chief Alexis, said Eagle River has given his people hope and a cause to rally behind. On a reserve-wide referendum, it garnered 92-per-cent support.

"When I think about this opportunity," Aginas said, "I feel like an Albertan for the first time in my life."

[email protected]

CASINO FACTS

- The $63.5-million Eagle River Casino and Travel Plaza near Whitecourt will be financed by private lenders in Canada and the U.S. There is no government money in the project, and partner Paragon Gaming says taxpayers will not be on the hook if the project fails.

- The casino's slot machine revenues will be split according to a formula unique to Alberta's First Nations casinos: 15 per cent to Paragon Gaming, 15 per cent to an Alexis First Nation charity, 30 per cent to the Alberta Lottery Fund, 30 per cent to Alexis First Nation general revenues and 10 per cent to Alberta First Nations that don't have casinos.

- Once the project's hotel and truck stop turn a profit, the Alexis First Nation will keep a majority of the profit. Paragon will get the rest. The entire project is expected to provide annual revenue of about $17 million to the band.

- The projected annual economic impact of the project is about $34 million.

Ran with fact box "Casino Facts", which has been appended to this story.

© The Edmonton Journal 2006