Old Remand Centre Redevelopment | ?m | ?s | Boyle Street | Manasc Isaac

[scyeg]

Does anyone believe the province OR the city will actually do anything good with that land? My guess is it will remain vacant for years and gradually become another illegal parking lot.

 

[Clearshades]

It will sit empty for 3 decades most likely that is why I'm adamant with this structure to remain erected for continuity. This street is finally starting to look promising. I also hope Qualico, once the revised added height tower comes to fruition, they tackle the corner lot abutting RAM after. If a new court building is procured, it should be south/across the street from the Police head quarters. That would be huge visually with great impact on density.

 

[Airboy]

Saw hording going up at the Remand centre. Looks like asbestos remediation going on now.

 

[_urbanite]

Update: Demolition is well underway. I drove by yesterday and most of the precast panels have been removed from the tower portion.

 

[MacLac]

Ok, Smitty…..you’re up! Dry your tears and announce a new Court House!

 

[Stevey_G]

Looking back at the old rederings; though those renovations would have been wildly impractical for this building's structure and layout what a cool story it would have been to take a former prison and turn it into a sanctuary.

 

[supaflyryguy]

You of all people should know that the cost of repurposing purpose-built structures is easier said than done. Not everything needs to be saved, and if removing something unusable allows for using the space for something better, that seems to be a better approach than letting it sit and deteriorate.

 

[EdmTrekker]

It seems there’s always money to demolish things and not enough to fix them or repurpose them…

The Remand Centre, the Coliseum, the old RAM, the Bank of Montreal on the Tegler site (a real 2 for 1!), the Walterdale Bridge, the old courthouse, the Carnegie Library, the downtown CPR Station, The Bank of Montreal on Jasper, the Annex…

The Carnegie Library — Forgotten Edmonton

In the words of Todd Babiak, our old central library “is one of the icons of a lost Edmonton, a phantom Edmonton, a victim of the boom-and-bust psychology that has defined the city since its earliest days.”

www.forgottenedmonton.com

Interesting how the Carnegie faced West with the MacDonald Hotel facing its East backside.

 

[David A]

Yes we certainly have failed in the past a number of times in preserving many buildings worth of keeping.

But I am not sure the way to make up for it now is to spend a lot of money and effort in trying to repurpose something with few redeeming features and also very difficult to repurpose.

However, this could be a good site for something better. I hope this may be the site for a new court house or something else beneficial.

 

[Stevey_G]

On the bright side it’s an ideal location for a new courthouse if that ever becomes a reality.

 

[Munanyo]

I just don't see how the old remand centre was worth preserving. The thing is/was a monolithic concrete bunker in terrible condition in our downtown; demolition is the right choice IMO.

I think a new courthouse makes sense on the old remand site, however I still wonder what the plan would be with the old courthouse, which again is in a terrible state. Demolition would be lengthy and costly and I don't think the city would be pleased having a giant, vacant piece of land sit empty right beside city hall. Maybe it becomes the exclusive home of the court of appeal or provincial court, however that would still require pumping millions to bring this building up to date.

 

[Gronk!]

Just brainstorming some ideas for the current Law Courts building:
- extension of the AGA
- music venue to complement the Winspear and Citadel
- resurrection of 1 or 2 closed nightclubs (New City, Sidetrack, The Bronx, Flashback, etc.)
- food hall with T&T Supermarket or Lucky Supermarket as the main anchor
- year-round farmer's market
- School of Architecture by U of A or Grant MacEwan
- fitness facility c/w pickleball, 3-on-3 basketball and indoor/outdoor swimming pool
- condos
- affordable housing
- seniors housing or nursing home

 

[EdmTrekker]

Just brainstorming some ideas for the current Law Courts building:
- extension of the AGA
- music venue to complement the Winspear and Citadel
- resurrection of 1 or 2 closed nightclubs (New City, Sidetrack, The Bronx, Flashback, etc.)
- food hall with T&T Supermarket or Lucky Supermarket as the main anchor
- year-round farmer's market
- School of Architecture by U of A or Grant MacEwan
- fitness facility c/w pickleball, 3-on-3 basketball and indoor/outdoor swimming pool
- condos
- affordable housing
- seniors housing or nursing home

The most pressing venue that has some funds being held by private donors for an opera house is an opera/ballet hall. I am not sure if the courthouse can be renovated for that purpose but an addition to the building may be possible while using space in the courthouse to accommodate offices, music rooms, set construction etc. for Edmonton Opera and Edmonton Ballet. It’s a perfect site and location and likely get Federal funds for a renovation.

 

[TAS]

 

[SarcasticMarmot]

It seems there’s always money to demolish things and not enough to fix them or repurpose them…

The Remand Centre, the Coliseum, the old RAM, the Bank of Montreal on the Tegler site (a real 2 for 1!), the Walterdale Bridge, the old courthouse, the Carnegie Library, the downtown CPR Station, The Bank of Montreal on Jasper, the Annex…

That is a really strong list of failures to preserve some of our best buildings, and you are right about needing to value repurposing many of them. However, I don't think the Remand belongs on that list. It's long history as one of the worst prison's in the country has left a scar on a significant portion of our city's population (the new one is Canada's largest prison, and very few people staying there have been convicted of anything). Happy to see it go, would rather provincial preservation money go to the old RAM which could still be saved!