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If the vision put forward in the report is realized, the area would become home to about 8,500 residents, and would be a mix of houses and low- and mid-rise multi-residential. A new LRT station would be built at the southwest section of the land, while the current Coliseum station would be replaced with an updated version slightly north of its current site.

There are also plans to expand Borden Park, and repurpose parts of the Expo centre, operated by the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation.

Photo by City of Edmontom

The city owns much of the land in the old Northlands exhibition land area, and the proposes dividing it into sizeable blocks, then selling it in phases to private developers as market absorption allows. Land in the southwest portion would be sold off first.

Part of the work will include demolishing the Coliseum, as well as the former Northlands horse racing facility. Caterina said discussions are underway to determine if both buildings can come down at once. He said hopefully a decision can be made and a contractor identified by early 2020.

“The sooner that we eliminate those buildings and eliminate the cost of maintaining them for years to come, the better,” he said.

Definitely not Blatchford 2.0

Caterina said the site is quite different than the green Blatchford development to the west, which is being built on the old downtown airport lands and was effectively a bare field that the city had contamination concerns about. He said the exhibition lands already connect to transit, roadways, and other infrastructure because the site was formerly residential. It also has green space, with Borden Park, and nearby river valley access.

“The two shouldn’t be confused as being the same type of project,” Caterina said.

The target for getting the area redevelopment plan approved is November.

pparsons@postmedia.com

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