Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
Is that a people made walking path that has formed there?
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Rossdale
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
ADob
Active Member
Yup. This is our hood and we see people walking their dogs there all the time when we walk/bike along the beautiful new SUP. I wonder if the city will formalize it.
Gronk!
Senior Member
CplKlinger
Senior Member
Request for Interest: Seeking Partners for Redevelopment
The City is exploring possible partnerships through a Request for Interest for an adaptive reuse of the Rossdale Power Plant.The plant’s large scale, varied spaces present an opportunity to adapt its buildings for a variety of uses. Its scale and location on the bank of the North Saskatchewan present an opportunity to develop something truly unique in our province, and to provide services and amenities in this special location.
Like so many unique attractions around the world, strategic capital investments will be central to our ability to see a new public facility come to life, and the City is excited to learn more about different paths toward adaptive reuse of the plant from potential partners.
Review full details of the RFI.
Respond to RFI
Rossdale Power Plant | City of Edmonton
As part of the River Crossing redevelopment plan, the City is exploring options to repurpose the power plant rather than tear it down.
IanO
Superstar
Through this RFI the City is looking to understand market perspectives on a varietyof items, including the following:
1. Vision and Concept: A vision for the future of the Rossdale Power Plant.
2. Identification of proposed use(s) and public access.13
3. Identification of a proposed operating model, including identification of allorganizations involved, roles they may play in the development andoperation of a redefined Rossdale Power Plant, and any historic and/or cultural connections to the Ross Flats.
4. High-level assessment of the project's financial feasibility and potential funding sources.
5. Any further comment on the project and additional information needed to further participate in the development process.
6. Description of proposed approaches for inclusion of Indigenous rights holders in alignment with the city of Edmonton’s IndigenousInvolvement Approach.
1. Vision and Concept: A vision for the future of the Rossdale Power Plant.
2. Identification of proposed use(s) and public access.13
3. Identification of a proposed operating model, including identification of allorganizations involved, roles they may play in the development andoperation of a redefined Rossdale Power Plant, and any historic and/or cultural connections to the Ross Flats.
4. High-level assessment of the project's financial feasibility and potential funding sources.
5. Any further comment on the project and additional information needed to further participate in the development process.
6. Description of proposed approaches for inclusion of Indigenous rights holders in alignment with the city of Edmonton’s IndigenousInvolvement Approach.
SarcasticMarmot
Active Member
Have they eliminated the requirement for the project to be recoup the City's investment and be revenue neutral for the City? I know one of the staff that was working on the project 6 years ago and that was what they said was killing any interest. If the City is willing to invest/subsidize then maybe there is hope.
IanO
Superstar
David Staples: Warm pool for cold city a hot idea
The best news Edmonton has had in years? A number of our sharpest minds are hard at work thinking up plans on how to best develop West Rossdale, the land around the…
edmontonjournal.com
Gronk!
Senior Member
City of Edmonton seeking ideas for redevelopment of Rossdale Power Plant
The City of Edmonton has put out a request for ideas for the redevelopment of the historic Rossdale Power Plant after years of visions for it have gone nowhere.
www.ctvnews.ca
The City of Edmonton has put out a request for ideas for the redevelopment of the historic Rossdale Power Plant after years of visions for it have gone nowhere.
Renovations to the plant will be part of the “River Crossing” area development which includes infrastructure upgrades for most of the neighbourhood.
Work is already underway to prepare the neighbourhood for another 2,500 housing units, parks, a new road and other transportation upgrades.
Avril McCalla, lead for the River Crossing project and real estate branch for the city, said the future of the power plant has gone through many iterations since it was decommissioned in 2012.
“Since that time, we’ve gone through sort of an evolution of exploration around what this community could be and how the power plant can be successful as part of a broader community redevelopment which is River Crossing,” said McCalla, adding that the city has fully owned the power plant for just under three years.
Over that period, the city has been undertaking an exploration of the plant to better understand its needs and potential approaches through an assessment.
Some of those iterations include an urban gondola that would cross the North Saskatchewan River proposed by Prairie Sky, a company that also hosted historic tours through the power plant back in 2020. City council ultimately chose to halt the gondola project in 2022.
McCalla said the city is putting out a Request for Information (RFI) to seek interest information from different proponents with submissions to how they would envision the power plant.
“We’re looking outside of the City of Edmonton as an organization and seeing what ideas, suggestions and approaches other partners might have,” said McCalla. “It’s a pretty epic opportunity in our river valley, but we want to see what other ideas there are out there for how to bring that into the future.”
She likened the potential to other centres and spaces in the country like Montreal’s Old Port or Vancouver’s Granville Island.
“There are these examples across Canada,” said McCalla. “This is our opportunity to make it our own.”
Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson says the potential for the area has been recognized for many years.
“As always, there’s processes and steps to go through,” said Stevenson. “What’s encouraging is that all the pieces have been put into place. We’ve been moving forward again – maybe not as quickly as some may have wanted, but we’ve created a really strong foundation."
She said the RFI will be an opportunity to refine the possibilities and identify partners who are going to step up and deliver.
“With every project, we want to make sure that we are doing our due diligence and making sure that it’s the best it can be,” said Stevenson. “With previous proposals in the area, there were gaps in terms of community consultation and Indigenous engagement … My hope is that ideas coming forward are responding to those issues they’ve raised in the past that are responding to the historic significance of the area.”
The “Touch the Water Promenade” is another element of the redevelopment, which will connect the west edge of the Rossdale neighbourhood at 94 Avenue to the east edge of the Walterdale Bridge with paved pathways lined with gathering spaces along the river’s north bank. Touch the Water is currently in a preliminary design phase. McCalla said the project would eventually extend to Government House Park.
Come spring, the city plans to create an outdoor terrace and picnic area on top of Pump House 2 to give Edmontonians a taste of the site’s potential as a public space.
The city’s RFI on the Rossdale Power Plant is currently open and closes April 30, 2026.
constance_chlore
Active Member
Well, that's something at least.
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
I think the one thing that would have helped things move along would have been the gondola. Due to its location it isn't the best to have pedestrians just walk there. Just like the Muttart was isolated and only easily accessible by car, now because of the LRT station I do believe that many more people have and will continue to discover the Muttart. I think the power plant really does need something like the gondola to get people to the area especially because there is really no places for vehicles to go and Park, which I really don't want to see anyways. I don't want to see more vehicular traffic in this area.
David A
Senior Member
First of all, the nearby ball park has quite a bit of parking, so I feel the power plant is more accessible by car than it seems. Of course there are also residents just north and with the new bridge a lot come to this area regularly.
I do like this finally seems to be on the radar for the city and with the councilor for the area involved, hopefully things will finally start to move ahead. However, the risk is the consultation process could get bogged down or become cumbersome. I don't think there has been a shortage of ideas for development of the power plant, its just that there hasn't been enough attention to them or the motivation to move forward before now.
I do like this finally seems to be on the radar for the city and with the councilor for the area involved, hopefully things will finally start to move ahead. However, the risk is the consultation process could get bogged down or become cumbersome. I don't think there has been a shortage of ideas for development of the power plant, its just that there hasn't been enough attention to them or the motivation to move forward before now.
IanO
Superstar
The lot directly north of the ballpark is identified as the first development parcel with the hopes of making it a mixed-use site to hopefully have some places pre/post game and maybe a little destination spot.
David A
Senior Member
The ball park will likely need some nearby parking to remain viable, so hopefully any development will allow for that. Of course there hasn't been any development in this area for decades, so perhaps not an immediate worry.
IanO
Superstar
300 stalls min, along with other options and potential solutions.
ChazYEG
Senior Member
Maybe a parkade on one of the lots close to the ballpark? It would also alleviate traffic a lot on game days, since the lockout would be inside the parkade, not on the roads, and it would also make it closer for people instead of walking all the way down from the farthest parking lots.