Jan. 18, 2012 - Issue #848: City of champions
Vuepoint
He could buy us dinner
Why would anyone expect that the new arena's construction would follow any more of a legitimate process than its financing? With the recent announcement that Colorado-based ICON Venue Group will manage the project—and the quasi-announcement that Kansas City's 360 Architects will design it—a small cry went up that the process was not only untendered, but led by the Katz Group, even though the City of Edmonton will, technically, own the building.
Other large public building projects—the art gallery, the planned museum—had an open tendering process, with input on the design coming from citizens, so why not this one? Because it isn't a public building project. Any fool can see that the development of the new downtown arena is a private building project being paid for with public money.
Buildings like the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Royal Alberta Museum are designed for the benefit of all of Edmonton's—and Alberta's—citizens. Even if you don't appreciate the art at the art gallery or the mix of history, nature and art on hand at the museum, no one can deny that the cultural activities going on inside of them go toward the greater good and that the price to enjoy each organization's offerings proves no prohibition to members of the public.
Not so with the planned arena. With concert prices through the roof, and the Oilers setting ticket prices amongst the league's highest, barriers to enter the arena amongst regular citizens—the building's supposed owners—are vast.
"Oh," you say, "but what about downtown revitalization? Won't all Edmontonians benefit from a more populated, more popular city centre?" That is a possibility, but there's no reason to think a new arena—devoid of life the majority of the time—will accomplish any level of downtown revitalization. It certainly hasn't worked for the areas surrounding Rexall Place or Commonwealth Stadium.
The purpose of public building is to benefit the public. Taxpayer-funded buildings in this city have, historically, not only benefited the citizens of Edmonton but were also designed and constructed through a process that was transparent to those same citizens, the people paying the bill for them. With the building of the proposed downtown arena, only one member of the public benefits: Daryl Katz. By ignoring even the merest pretence of a public tender, the Katz Group isn't even kissing us before we get screwed.
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