Edmonton’s Ice District partnership between Oilers, city ‘model in pro sports’ [Video]

Ten years ago, heavy equipment was brought in to a plot of vacant downtown land to start construction of the catalyst for one of the most transformative projects in Edmonton history: Ice District.

Today, it’s the epicentre for many major city events, including NHL playoff hockey, something that’s become a spring staple.

“We always thought by bringing the arena downtown that we could get people coming earlier and staying later, that the arena and the plaza could be the heartbeat of downtown. I really think that’s what it’s become,” Tim Shipton, the Oilers Entertainment Group’s executive vice-president of communications and gaming, told CTV News Edmonton.

That vision has transformed the area once dominated by surface parking lots and empty land into a state-of-the-art hockey and concert venue surrounded by restaurants, shops and mixed-use high-rises, including the 66-storey Stantec Tower, the tallest building in Canada outside Toronto.

“Ice District coming out …