Edmonton's Ice District opens for business
Businesses welcome arena crowds, but say there are still growing pains.
Matt Kinal is the manager of Denizen Hall in the Ice District and said they're planning to expand their schedule to seven days a week soon to keep up with demand.
Denizen Hall was a “sea of jerseys” Wednesday night before the puck dropped for the first Oiler’s season game, said general manager Matt Kinal.
He’d brought in twice the staff, but crowds seeking pre-game food and drinks were easily triple or quadruple a typical Wednesday night, he said.
Kinal said the bar, known for its old-timey arcade games, is thrilled the arena is open, but there are still some growing pains.
“A think a lot of people’s issue is trying to figure out where to park,” he said. “It’s affecting staff and people coming down generally.”
He adds that closures and congestion have made it difficult for taxis or rented buses to get to them, and the crowds have kept some of their regulars away.
Still, it’s opened them up to a different crowd, he said.
“Denizen Hall has a pretty good reputation with the 18 to 28 crowd and we’re usually pretty busy on the weekends, but this is definitely filling up the rest of our days.”
Down the street at the Joey’s that opened in Bell Tower in August, day manager Justin Pederson said their daytime business clientele is giving way to big evening crowds on event nights.
“We were probably full — the restaurant, the lounge, the terrace — by 4:20 or 4:30,” he said, adding there was an hour-and-a-half wait Wednesday.
“It was a great vibe. Everyone was in jerseys, taking pictures.”
“We’re going to take some time to grow into [the Ice district] and its going to take another few years before we’re built out, but its going to be absolutely dynamite in that area.”
