just got a bad feeling....

Just one word: OMNIPLEX

For those much younger than 45, look it up on Google and do your homework before reading any further.

Let me say off the top- I believe Edmonton needs a new arena, plus I really see the benefit of the Entertainment Centre that is proposed to go with it. Been to LA Live and been to Westgate in Glendale- both spectacular and that sort of thing in downtown Edmonton would be wildly popular here.

Having travelled around the NHL and visited 95% of the arenas, I firmly believe the time is approaching where a new facility is going to be required here. Two reasons: the fan experience and pure economics.

No sense in bashing the 'Grand Old Dame' known as Rexall Place, but it just doesn't cut it any more in SO many ways. Sad, but very true. Add to that the NHL economics and without some sort of new facility on the horizon, the Oilers could easily leave town. Not a threat, just reality. I lived in Winnipeg and saw the same situation develop there. It's not pretty.

But it's how this whole thing is playing out that scares me. The Katz Group are tantalizing Edmontonians with various 'conceptions' of what the area 'may' look like. Nothing written in stone and no real idea of how much this will cost and who will pay for what. To me it's like wandering around a Porsche dealership, loving everything I see, but eventually for my excitement level to be sustained I need to see a sticker price. That's where I'm at right now... love it... but how much?

This all takes me back to when I was a kid in the early 70's. There was a proposed football/hockey facility called OMNIPLEX that was taken to the voters. It looked great, had sizzle, it was also planned for the downtown core, but at the end of the day it was voted down by the taxpayers.

I'm starting to get that OMNIPLEX feeling about the current situation. The Katz folks are trying to get the public to come onside (without knowing the cost) before taking this whole scheme to City Hall. I just not convinced that this tactic is gonna work. Why? It's pissing off the Councillors who'll have to vote on this thing and I fear they'll brush this off and put it to a public vote- IF they do... it's done. Simply not enough sports fans out there to offset your average skeptical taxpayer.

There has to be a better way to make this appealing to the many who don't want their taxes raised another dime. The Katz Group better figure it out fast or this project will be another OMNIPLEX.