Concern is growing about the future of Rexall Place and the revenue it generates as plans for a new downtown arena begin to unfold.
It is now expected that the events that are currently held at Rexall Place would move downtown to the new arena. But that now leaves many unanswered questions including, what would happen to the building? And will the downtown arena score all the cash from concerts?
Last year, Northlands made $ 6.5 million from events such as concerts, and a portion of them were in the arena.
Northlands' role in the proposed arena development remains under negotiation at this point, as well who will pay and own the new building.
Coun. Kim Krushell is leaning on the Katz Group to lay out those answers.
"I'm hoping that at some point the Katz Group is going to bring this all together," she said.
Some of those issues were discussed at a public meeting Wednesday night that was originally scheduled to be about rezoning.
A crowd of around 100 people packed into a MacEwan University meeting room to ask questions about the proposed development.
"Who in the heck is gonna pay for this?" asked Betty-Ann McCrady, who's worried about her taxes going up to pay for the district.
But McCrady's question remained unanswered for the most part.
"Funding's an important question and we understand that," said Katz Group VP Bob Black. "But that is a process and we're working through a negotiation with the city."
McCrady says that the Katz Group needs to answer the question of cost before anyone can decide on re-zoning.
"The citizens of Edmonton are furious because they don't wanna pay for this."
The next public meeting will be held June 28. The Katz Group is hoping to have a funding model in place for that date.
With files from Bill Fortier
