As part of their work, USI prepared four potential scenarios comprising different land use elements. These scenarios were presented at two workshops with the intention of gathering perspectives on the elements within the scenarios as well as opportunities and trade-offs from the various options, from interested parties. While many of those interested parties include people from different areas within the City who have shared interests with Exhibition Lands, we also wanted to make sure we heard from external groups including representatives from Concordia University, the Alberta Avenue Business Association and the various community leagues that represent the surrounding communities.

During April & May 2025, engagement with key interested parties both internal and external to the City was undertaken to gain feedback and inform the course of the Edmonton Exhibition Lands project.

Initial Workshop: On April 15, 2025, the project team held an in-person workshop on- site at the Edmonton Expo Centre. Invitees included internal City of Edmonton representatives as well as those from the broader community including the Alberta Avenue Business Association, Concordia University of Edmonton, Bellevue Community League, Montrose Community League, and Highlands Community League. Participants were provided with a short presentation summarizing the project goals, background work, consultation done to date, and the four draft scenarios. They were then broken up into groups of 5-6 and asked to discuss each scenario, provided on hard copy high resolution land use maps, and tasked with evaluating each scenario, providing a list of advantages, disadvantages, opportunities, and potential refinements. The participants then presented the findings of their group discussions with the broader group.

Phase 2 Virtual Engagement Event: A follow-up workshop session was held on May 8, 2025 in a virtual format using Zoom and Miro. This session was intended to accommodate participants who were unable to attend the in-person workshop on April 15 and took on a more externally-facing, community focus.

Working Session: April 15, 2025

A working session was held on-site at the Edmonton Expo Centre on April 15, 2025. Attendees included representatives from:

• Civic Events & Festivals, City of Edmonton
• Land Development & Real Estate, City of Edmonton
• District Energy, City of Edmonton
• Planning & Environment, City of Edmonton
• Coliseum Demolition, City of Edmonton
• Open Space, City of Edmonton
• Social Development, City of Edmonton
• Explore Edmonton
• Edmonton Expo Centre
• Alberta Avenue Business Association
• Bellevue Community League
• Highlands Community League
• Montrose Community League
• Associated Engineering
• Concordia University

Participants were provided with a short presentation summarizing the project mandate, team, background, underlying assumptions, high-level market analysis, and a description of four draft scenarios presenting conceptual land use concepts for the lands. Participants were then divided into groups of 5-6 and provided high resolution land use maps of each scenario and asked to discuss each one in turn, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and potential changes. These were then shared with the broader group. Key themes that were identified by the participants included:

Scenario 1:

• More green space is needed – configuration of the Borden Park expansion results in the loss of sports fields
• Minimal impact on servicing (sanitary and sewer) design
• High value land close to new LRT station should be used for residential or event use, not storage/laydown
• Space north of 118 Avenue is used effectively in this scenario
• In general, participants liked that the event space is very transit-accessible in this scenario
• Residential uses are located closer together, making it easier to develop a cohesive community
• Event space being split between north and south of 118 Avenue results in operational inefficiency
• Scenario may negatively affect the ability to utilize Borden Park for small and medium-sized events
• Employment anchor may not be viable/desirable, but participants noted it could be used for parking in the interim
• Bulk of the outdoor event space is located too far from the indoor event space (Expo Centre)
• Scenario might provide insufficient/inefficient laydown areas
• All K-Days parking is lost in the long-term
• Scenario could lead to noise impacts on residential uses
• Shape of Borden Park expansion might be the least attractive due to difficulty of providing rectilinear sports fields
• Participants liked that the employment anchor provides a buffer between ground-oriented residential and traffic noise from Wayne Gretzky Drive

Scenario 2:

• High value land close to new LRT station should be used for residential or event use, not storage/laydown
• Scenario results in loss of parkland
• Residential uses along Wayne Gretzky Drive will be low value due to traffic
• New residential uses along Wayne Gretzky Drive have implications for sanitary design
• Participants liked that the size of the civic anchor has been reduced
• New Borden Park configuration is more conducive to hosting small and medium-sized events
• Maintaining the LRT station in its present position as proposed in scenario 2 will better serve the Expo Centre – however, this should be analyzed from a technical/operations perspective
• Participants asked if the position of the urban farm is fixed or if it could be moved elsewhere (e.g. north of 118 Ave) as it impacts the flexibility of the Borden Park expansion space
• Participants liked that Borden Park is not modified as extensively as under the original Framework Plan
• Some participants were not convinced by the tourism anchor and have noted that other hotels in the area have not been successful – land may be better used as housing. However, other participants thought the hotel use was appropriate.
• This scenario generally provides too much ground-oriented residential and not enough mixed-use multi-family housing
• There was some concern about “untoward” activity happening in area north of 118 Avenue when events are not ongoing (i.e. likely to be a majority of the year)
• Concern about noise impact on Montrose community
• Open space needs to be comprehensively planned, including factoring in the recreation needs of northeast Edmonton more broadly
• Poor connectivity across 118 Avenue – more bridges should be built if event space located here
• This scenario provides less space for cattle storage

Scenario 3:

• Most cohesive design in terms of integrating indoor and outdoor event space
• Participants liked that event space could be used for parking/staging outside of event days in this scenario
• Retention of horse stables is a positive
• LRT serves event use well in this scenario
• Participants liked the idea of the residential buffer
• Design of Borden Park facilitates spillover for small and mediums-sized events
• Scenario 3 is likely to be the best from a district energy perspective
• Civic anchor is ill-defined
• Some participants noted that residential uses north of 118 Avenue is likely to be poor value. However, other participants liked the residential uses on this part of the Site.
• Residential near Wayne Gretzky Drive is also likely to be undesirable
• There was some concern with spillover of event space into residential areas – participants suggested event space should be fenced off from residential uses
• High value land close to new LRT station should be used for residential or event use, not storage/laydown
• Some participants were not convinced by the tourism anchor and have noted that other hotels in the area have not been successful – land may be better used as housing. However, other participants thought the hotel use was appropriate.
• There was some concern with the lack of servicing infrastructure north of 118 Avenue
• Additional hardscaping area associated with the event space south of 118 Avenue is likely to have an impact on sanitary and stormwater design
• There may be some grading issues on the portion of the lands designated for outdoor event space Thin strip of land designated residential north of 115 Avenue may not be a practical development block
• Transit villages in this scenario are farther from the stations and there is a general loss of density adjacent to the stations
• Stormwater pond will likely be oversized in this scenario
• Limited parking in this scenario may result in overspill into residential areas, as already happens during K-Days
• Participants identified the need for more small-scale retail west of Borden Park (e.g. coffee shop at 112 Avenue)
• Participants generally liked the retention of the ball diamonds in Borden Park, but also identified some concerns with programmability of the park expansion due to its shape and size

Scenario 4:

• Land designated for event space in this scenario has existing servicing
• Buffering of residential uses and event/laydown is appropriate in this scenario
• High value land close to new LRT station should be used for residential or event use, not storage/laydown
• Participants did not like loss of TOD residential areas and suggested some higher-density residential near the stations
• The small triangle of laydown at the extreme north of the Site is likely not useful for K-Days Potential noise concerns arising from proximity between event space and residential
• Participants also identified the potential need for a noise barrier along Wayne Gretzky Drive to reduce the impact of the event space on the communities to the east
• Participants identified potential impacts to stormwater and sanitary infrastructure due to increase in residential uses west of Borden Park extension
• Some participants liked the lack of a tourism anchor in this scenario. However, others thought this was a negative.
• Lack of density hampers the business case for district energy
• Some participants identified this scenario as the best configuration for K-Days given the integration between event space and laydown areas

All Scenarios:

• Realignment of Wayne Gretzky Drive could be considered in some scenarios
• Green buffers are likely to be single use and cannot be utilized for supporting functions such as storage/laydown
• Scenario 3 appears to provide the best business case for district energy given the relative increase in population density, whereas scenarios 1, 2, and 4 are not as good
• All options seem to account for an appropriate level of “back-of-house” space adjacent to the Expo Centre
• Location of Klondike Park and the urban farm potentially poses a threat to the long-term evolution of the site – some participants asked if these uses can be designated as interim
• Options generally provide too much ground-oriented residential – an increase in the mixed-use transit village designation should be considered to increase population yield
• Participants generally identified potential issues with locating event space close to residential and other sensitive uses, particularly as it related to noise from concerts and fireworks safety
• Some participants noted that the Urban Farm and Klondike Park are intended to be a temporary use and thus should not be shown as a permanent feature on any of the scenarios
• It was identified that due to uncertainty around Provincial funding and affordable housing requirements, any event space on the Coliseum lands may need to be identified as interim only
• Scenarios should undergo fiscal/market analysis, including in regards to the trade-offs between residential and non-residential uses
• All scenarios should consider drainage impacts
• Some participants identified scenario 3 as their preferred. Others preferred a hybrid of scenarios 3 and 4

Virtual Workshop – May 8, 2025

A follow-up workshop session was held on May 8, 2025 in a virtual format using Zoom and Miro. This session was intended to accommodate participants who were unable to attend the in-person workshop on April 15 and took on a more externally-facing, community focus. Attendees included representatives of the following organizations:

• Concordia University
• Alberta Avenue Business Association
• Bellevue Community League
• Parkdale-Cromdale Community League
• Highlands Community League

Participants were provided with a presentation broadly similar to that presented in the April 15 workshop and were then shown the same scenarios via the Miro platform. Participants were then invited to engage in an open-ended discussion regarding priorities for the site in general, and asked for feedback on each of the four Scenarios in turn. Key themes that were identified by the participants included:

Scenario 1:

• Participants liked the amount of parkland contiguous with the existing Borden Park
• Some participants wanted to see less ground-related housing and more mixed-use
• Most participants were not keen on the employment anchor use
• Some participants thought smaller-scale employment (e.g. local retail) would be valuable close to residences
• Co-location of childcare and adult facilities should be considered for the Civic Anchor use
• Placing all of the outdoor event space north of 118 Avenue may make it logistically difficult to host K-Days and other events

Scenario 2:

• Participants generally liked that the employment anchor is gone in this scenario
• Some participants did not like the ground-oriented housing adjacent to Wayne Gretzky Drive
• Some participants wanted to see less more residential density as a way to shift development pressure away from existing neighbourhoods
• Other participants appreciated that the residential uses and the park were oriented as one contiguous community
• Some participants liked the location of outdoor event space north of 118 Avenue
• Some participants were concerned with event space being located directly adjacent to residential events given noise and other potentially disruptive factors

Scenario 3:

• Some participants liked this scenario for the amount of density proposed north of 118 Avenue and the potential for a more cohesive community to develop
• Participants also liked that 118 Avenue can serve as a natural buffer between the EXPO Centre and the medium-density residential area
• Some participants were concerned with insufficient buffering between the outdoor event space and the mixed-use transit village uses, particularly on higher floors
• Some participants did not like that there were two separate residential areas with the EXPO Centre and outdoor event space in the middle as this would prevent the emergence of a cohesive community
• A participant identified Griesbach as a successful residential community due to its connectedness, which this scenario lacks
• A participant felt that the primary objective of the site’s redevelopment was not clear in this scenario – is the purpose to provide housing? Or event space?

Scenario 4:

• Some participants expressed concern with the location of the outdoor event space along Wayne Gretzky Drive in this scenario, but also expressed that it may be workable with well-considered noise mitigation
• Participants wanted the site to generally be better connected to surrounding areas
• This scenario suffers from the same problem as scenario 3 in terms splitting the two residential areas
• North residential area needs more open space
• Consideration should be given for connectivity between new residential area north of 118 Avenue and surrounding neighbourhoods

All Scenarios

• Participants identified seniors’ or supportive housing as a need in the area as many older residents would like to age in place
• Participants noted that currently they do not hear most of the events, but occasionally music-related festivals are loud/disruptive. Residents are also concerned about noise in the case that Explore Edmonton will be staging significantly more events rather than just K-Days
• Participants generally wanted better noise mitigation, including for areas outside the triangle
• Park and bike path along LRT tracks should be improved

Follow-Up Feedback

• Many people in our area like attending K-Days and other festivals on the Northlands property and also appreciate the fact that these events are nearby and readily accessible. Consequently, we strongly recommend that you find sufficient space in the new plan for these events, regardless of where you decide to put them. We hope this will include some room for parking - perhaps even the construction of a parkade - as many people come to these events from across town and out-of-town and will park in the surrounding neighborhoods if there is nowhere to park on site.