City Centre Redevelopment Review

Status quo was not an option:

• one of the runways would have required up to $10M in capital upgrades to remain operational
• other upgrades were estimated at up to $35M over the next 5-10 years
• revisiting the cap on passenger traffic would have incurred significant legal liabilities

More details

These pages have more information:

• Council's Decision
• Environmental Assessment
• Medevac
• Why Redevelop

Current status:

• One runway has been closed, one runway remains open.
• The open runway can remain operational until Council determines the land is needed for redevelopment, based on market demand.
• Air ambulance services (mostly patient transfer) continue to operate at the City Centre Airport, and can do so for the foreseeable future.

Why close?

In making their decision, Council requested an analysis of five main perspectives: historical importance, economic impact, market feasibility, medevac, and public consultation.

Council also discussed the potential of the land for the citizens of Edmonton. Redeveloping the land into a family-focused, residential/commercial community that will be a world leader in environmental, cosmopolitan development would benefit Edmonton by:

• helping rein in urban sprawl and create family-focused neighbourhoods in the heart of our city
• modelling an environmentally sustainable community where people can walk to their work, amenities, parks, recreation and services.
• eliminating height restrictions on development elsewhere in the downtown core.
• increasing revenue to the City over the long term (between $91M and $486M), which helps reduce the burden on taxpayers. The City received $1.1M in taxes annually from businesses on the land.

Council voted for a phased closure of the airport, over time, with the following considerations:

• Changes to medevac will only occur when Alberta Health Services has sufficient plans and facilities in place to ensure patient safety and undisrupted service.
• Emergency helicopters can land at Edmonton hospital helipads. The majority of air ambulance flights that land at the City Centre airport are fixed-wing aircraft that carry patients for medical appointments.

Economic impact

• The City will be the land developer and gain the revenue from the development and from business and property tax.
• The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation supports the closure of the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) because the redevelopment of the ECCA land "is in the economic best interest of the city." Read more

Redevelopment:

• The City announced five finalists in an international design competition for the lands. Each received a $50,000 honorarium for further developing their proposals. The Perkins + Will team was selected in June 2011 to develop a master plan for the City Centre redevelopment.  
• The public had several chances to review the design proposals before the winning team was selected. Further public consultation will help shape the final neighbourhood development.

Environment:

• Remediation would have to occur regardless of future use of the land -  as an airport or neighbourhood.
• From preliminary tests, which covered more than half the property, only three small areas may have limited environmental contamination.

Historical importance and preservation

• The City will incorporate our aviation heritage in the community development, such as with street and neighbourhood naming, and by using aviation facilities for museum space.
• The Aviation Museum is an integral part of our City’s heritage and the City aims to enhance the museum’s role and to advance the concept of a Mall of Museums on the site.

Information presented for analysis on use of the airport lands

The future of the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) lands has been under renewed Council scrutiny since early 2008. Council and the Executive Committee requested and heard several administration reports outlining various challenges and opportunities associated with the airport lands. A public hearing in September 2008 led to a roadmap of review and a plan to analyze the challenges and opportunities from several perspectives. 

On June 24, 2009, the ECCA Lands Impact Assessment Results report was presented to Council. This report includes the Legal Review of the Lease Agreements, the Net Revenue Return of Redevelopment, and attached several reports commissioned by consultants in several areas. These consultants' reports were presented also to the Executive Committee on June 24, 2009:

• Public Consultation;
• Land/Market Impact Assessment (24MB);
• Medevac Assessment;
• Historical Valuation; and
• Economic Impact Assessment

Following three days of public hearings in 2009 (June 24-26), Councillors asked follow-up questions to administration, the consultants and Edmonton Airports: Responses to Councillors' Questions:

For more information:

Office of the City Clerk