More Arena Plans For Alberta

While the owner of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and AEG Development flesh out plans for a new downtown arena in the Canadian city, another player has entered the mix.

Northlands – the organization that owns Rexall Place, the home of the Oilers – has arena plans of its own and recently issued a statement announcing its intent to find a “made in Edmonton” arena solution.

That solution sees Northlands partnering with CSL International and Spotlight Strategies to “move Edmonton’s arena solution forward, with a focus to ensuring the broader interests of the community are met.” Possible sites floated for the venue development include the aging Northlands Park racetrack.

The announcement was met with confusion by team owner Katz Group, which made an offer for Northlands to play a “significant role” in a downtown facility in September, Katz VP Bob Black told the Edmonton Journal. The team is still waiting for a response from Northlands.

“We were somewhat blindsided by the news release,” Black said. “I’m not going to speculate as to what Northlands intends to bring forward until we see what specifically they are proposing.”

Northlands head Ken Knowles later clarified the organization’s statement to CTV News.

“Northlands as an organization supports that arena concept downtown,” he said, adding that the group hopes to continue talks with Katz. “We certainly hope to get this back to the table and move this forward and discuss what the respective roles are going to be.”