Stantec Tower | 250.84m | 66s | ICE District Prop.

[air_ic]

Shame that there's no lighting feature for the tallest building in the city when it was supposed to...

 

[Barnaby]

Shame that there's no lighting feature for the tallest building in the city when it was supposed to...

The purple and blue gamer lights in the residences aren't good enough for you?

 

[David A]

I recently went to Toronto, where I spent a good amount of money to go to the top of the CN and it was quite busy. Its a shame our tallest building with its great views does not have something for the public to visit.

In Edmonton, tourism and attractions often still seem to be an after thought.

 

[Greenspace]

^I think it was too bad that some kind of public observation wasn't negotiated into the whole arena/ice district conversation.

 

[SMayo]

Is it possible the issue with having one was the fact that it’s residential at the top and there would be issues with needing another elevator shaft up to an observation deck separate from the private residential ones?

 

[Airboy]

Is it possible the issue with having one was the fact that it’s residential at the top and there would be issues with needing another elevator shaft up to an observation deck separate from the private residential ones?

That was one of the key reasons the observation area was never planned.

 

[Gronk!]

It's not like Stantec was bankrolled by one of Canada's wealthiest tycoons - oh wait...

 

[David A]

I realize there was a lot to this development,. The whole Ice District development has a lot of public implications, many good, and had a lot of involvement from the city, but this was a missed opportunity.

 

[Greenspace]

Elevators certainly a factor but there could have been an observation deck or public space at the transition from commercial to residential. That is not uncommon.

 

[Airboy]

There was quite a lot of discussion during the design but cost and security had been a big factor. And there is space on the transition floor for observation but only on the NW and north sides.The roof would not be open to the public.

 

[Vijay19]

Elevators certainly a factor but there could have been an observation deck or public space at the transition from commercial to residential. That is not uncommon.

Im not being sarcastic, but what are people supposed to observe, there is nothing to look at in our city centre that would warrant building an observation deck, at least nothing that would pay off by trying to charge people to utilize.

 

[Barnaby]

Im not being sarcastic, but what are people supposed to observe, there is nothing to look at in our city centre that would warrant building an observation deck, at least nothing that would pay off by trying to charge people to utilize.

The typical person has never been in a building this tall.

Even though the Stantec isn't exceptionally tall on an international level, it would have been the tallest residential building in the world in 2000. Economical residential skyscrapers of great heights are a very recent trend that was essentially pioneered by Marina City (Chicago). Edmonton House is a notable building because of it's very uncharacteristic height for the time period. Edmonton House must have been one of the tallest residential buildings in North America when constructed.

Now back to Stantec; the building would have needed to be considerably larger in width from floor 31-66/67 to accommodate the additional elevator shaft. Another large elevator would cause a massive loss in living space over the 35 residential floors, while a transfer floor would be needed to prevent the same from occuring to the office space.

It's completely understandable why there is no observation deck. I don't believe it would have been economical. The Aldritt Tower site would be a better spot, and the river valley would give a greater perception of height that is impossible to replicate in most cities, like those with trout streams running through them.

 

[Offworld]

Im not being sarcastic, but what are people supposed to observe, there is nothing to look at in our city centre that would warrant building an observation deck, at least nothing that would pay off by trying to charge people to utilize.

I miss Vista 33. As a kid, I went up there every few weeks, a budding real estate geek watching all the downtown construction underway.

 

[David A]

I miss Vista 33. As a kid, I went up there every few weeks, a budding real estate geek watching all the downtown construction underway.

I remember it too and it was a popular downtown attraction for many years, so yes people do want to go to places like this, even if our skyline was and is more modest than some other places.

Some more frequent travelers here may not appreciate or realize not everyone here get to go to places like New York to see more impressive skylines. I hope if the Aldritt Tower is ever built it will have a public space to take what would be a great view from there.

In the meantime, I guess we still have LaRonde which is nice, but was built in the 1960's and is now far from the tallest building here.

 

[SarcasticMarmot]

Vista 33 was great as a kid getting to see the city and telephone museum. But alas, I am sure it is much more useful to the 5 people with offices up there now. Perfect example of the loss of focus on the public good when crown corps go private.