Northlands Coliseum

Coordinates: 53°34′17″N 113°27′22″W / 53.57139°N 113.45611°W / 53.57139; -113.45611

Northlands Coliseum

Exterior view of Rexall Place (c.2010)
Former names	Northlands Coliseum (1974–95) Edmonton Coliseum (1995–98) Skyreach Centre (1998–2003) Rexall Place (2003–16) Northlands Coliseum (2016–2018)
Address	7424 118 Avenue
Location	Edmonton, Alberta
Public transit	Edmonton LRT (Coliseum) Edmonton Transit System (5, 8, 10, 99, 127, 141, 142, 318)
Owner	Northlands (1974-2017), City of Edmonton (2018-)
Capacity	Hockey: 16,839 Concerts: 13,000 (approx)[1]
Field size	497,700 square feet (46,240 m2)[2]
Construction
Broke ground	November 3, 1972
Opened	November 10, 1974
Renovated	1994, 2001, 2007
Closed	January 1, 2018
Construction cost	C$17.3 million[3] ($86.1 million in 2017 dollars[4]) Renovations: 1994: $14 million ($21.3 million in 2017 dollars[4]} 2001: $10 million[5] ($13.3 million in 2017 dollars[4]} 2007: $3.5 million ($4.09 million in 2017 dollars[4]} Total cost: $122.9 million in 2016 dollars
Architect	Phillips, Barrett, Hillier, Jones Partners Wynn, Forbes, Lord, Feldberg & Schmidt[6]
Structural engineer	Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.[7]
General contractor	Batoni Bowlen Enterprises[8]
Main contractors	SE Johnson Ltd. (mechanical)[9]
Tenants
Edmonton Oilers (WHA/NHL) (1974–2016) Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) (2007–2016) Edmonton Rush (NLL) (2006–2015) Edmonton Drillers (CMISL) (2007) Edmonton Road Runners (AHL) (2004–2005) Edmonton Drillers (NPSL) (1996–2000) Edmonton Sled Dogs (RHI) (1994) Edmonton Skyhawks (NBL) (1993–1994) Edmonton Drillers (NASL) (1980–1982) Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) (1974–1976)
Website
Official website

Northlands Coliseum, or simply the Coliseum, was an indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The arena opened in 1974, and was later known as Edmonton Coliseum, Skyreach Centre, and Rexall Place, before returning to the Northlands Coliseum name in summer 2016.

The arena hosted the 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup hockey tournaments, the 1978 Commonwealth Games, seven Stanley Cup finals (Oilers loss in 1983; Oilers victories in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990; and Oilers loss in 2006), many other hockey events, along with other sporting events and major concerts.

The final NHL game was played at the arena on April 6, 2016. Northlands Coliseum closed on New Year's Day 2018, after which it was transferred to the city. Northlands had planned to re-develop the arena into a multi-level ice facility, but these plans were scrapped after it was found that renovating the facility would be more costly than building a new one altogether.

History

Skyreach Centre in 2001

Housing the World Hockey Association Oilers, Northlands Coliseum opened on November 10, 1974. Then it became the Edmonton Coliseum in 1995,^[10] and Skyreach Centre in 1998,^[11] before changing to Rexall Place on November 20, 2003, when its naming rights were purchased by the Rexall medicine company, a subsidiary of Katz Group Canada.^[12] The Katz Group later purchased the Oilers and the Oil Kings. When the naming rights expired on August 31, 2016, the name reverted to Northlands Coliseum.^[13]

The arena was used to host games in the 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup hockey tournaments, including Game 2 of the 1984 finals between Canada and Sweden. In the 1995 World Junior Championships, which were held in various cities and towns throughout Alberta, Edmonton Coliseum was the site of several games, including Canada's 6–3 victory over Finland on New Year's Day. The arena was one of the venues for the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

The venue was the site of several Commonwealth Games sports in 1978, and part of Universiade (the World University Games) in 1983. It also hosted the 2004 WWE Backlash pay per view, and the CHL Top Prospects Game in 2008.^[14]

Rexall Place logo, 2003 to 2016

Before the 2007-08 season started, the Oilers dressing room was renovated for $3.5 million. The room is wider with a new medical room, lounge, bar, video room, weight room as well as other new facilities.^[15]

The Oilers' final game at Rexall Place was played on April 6, 2016, against the Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers won 6-2; the last NHL goal was scored by Oiler Leon Draisaitl. A post-game ceremony was held, featuring current and past Oilers players.^[16]

Arena information

Rexall Place at night

The official capacity for hockey when the arena closed was 16,839, which was slightly less than the 17,100 the arena held before the 2001–02 NHL season. It was one of three NHL arenas (the others being the MTS Centre in Winnipeg and Barclays Center in Brooklyn) seating less than 17,000 fans in its configuration. When it opened, the capacity was 15,423, but it was increased to 17,490 after the Oilers joined the NHL by adding an extra tier of seating on the side opposite the press box. This was increased to 17,498 in 1982 and to 17,503 in 1986. The arena underwent an extensive renovation in 1994 in which the seating capacity was reduced to make way for 52 luxury suites. 15 more suites were added in 2001. The arena could also be noisy, as noise levels reached 119 decibels during playoff games.^[17]

Northlands Coliseum was the first NHL arena in Canada to have a centre-hung scoreboard with an electronic messageboard; the original scoreboard including a black-and-white dot matrix board. This was replaced in 1987 by a centre-hung scoreboard with a colour matrix screen, which in 1994 was replaced with an eight-sided scoreboard with four video screens. The last centre-hung scoreboard, designed by White Way Sign,^[18] featured eight message boards at the top and four video screens at the bottom, separated by LED rings. The arena also featured 360-degree fascia signage by Daktronics.

The Coliseum was the last NHL arena with the player benches on the same side as the TV cameras. In all other NHL venues, the TV cameras are on the same side as the scorekeepers table and penalty boxes.^[19]

Closure

Given the age and small size of the Coliseum (third oldest and third smallest NHL arena in 2010), the construction of a new arena for the Edmonton Oilers was proposed by the Katz Group in 2010. An agreement was reached in January 2012 between the Katz Group and the City of Edmonton for the construction of Rogers Place in Downtown Edmonton. Construction started in March 2014, and it opened in September 2016 with a seating capacity of 18,347.^[20][21] Northlands stated that the old arena would remain open,^[22] and a number of concerts and sporting events were still held there even after the Oilers left.

On February 17, 2016, Northlands unveiled plans to convert Northlands Coliseum into a multi-level ice facility,^[23][24] with a later proposal calling for a partnership with Hockey Canada to make it a Hockey Canada Centre of Excellence, but it was later discovered that renovating the Coliseum would be more costly than building a new facility.^[25][26]

As more major concerts and other events were drawn away to Rogers Place, Northlands experienced declines in revenue. This made it difficult for the non-profit organization to pay off a loan by the City that was used to fund the 2009 expansion of the Edmonton Expo Centre. On September 13, 2017, the City of Edmonton reached an agreement to take over the arena from Northlands effective January 1, 2018 (the same date that control of the Edmonton Expo Centre transferred to the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation under a similar agreement), as it prepared to transition to primarily being an agricultural organization. The venue permanently ceased operations on that date; future plans for the building are yet to be decided. As an aspect of this deal, Oilers Entertainment Group also agreed to release the city from a $17 million (out of $20 million) sponsorship agreement.^[27][28][29]

Notable events

• The 1975 Skate Canada International.
• Gymnastics in the 1978 Commonwealth Games.
• The 1981 Canada Cup, along with three other venues in Canada.
• Games 1 & 2 of the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals.
• The 1984 Canada Cup, along with six other venues in Canada and the United States.
• Games 3, 4, and 5 of the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals.
• Games 3, 4, and 5 of the 1985 Stanley Cup Finals.
• Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals.
• Games 1, 2, and 5 of the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals.
• The 1989 National Hockey League All-Star Game.
• Games 3 and 4 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals.
• The 1994 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
• The 1995 NHL Entry Draft.
• The 1995 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, along with 12 other venues in Alberta.
• The 1996 World Figure Skating Championships.
• The 1999, 2005, and 2013 Tim Hortons Briers.
• Toronto Raptors preseason games in 1999 and 2008^[30]
• The 2004 Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced by World Wrestling Entertainment.
• The 2004 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
• Games 3, 4, and 6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.
• The 2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship.
• The 2008 CHL Top Prospects Game.
• The 2008 National Lacrosse League All Star Game.
• The PBR's Built Ford Tough Series held an event at the venue on the weekend of July 25–26, 2008.
• The 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.
• YC Alberta 2010 sold out the arena for the entire weekend with around 17500 people in attendance.
• The 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (in December 2011), along with the Scotiabank Saddledome.
• Last NHL game on April 6, 2016
• The 2017 Ford World Men's Curling Championship
• Matches of the 2017 Davis Cup tie between Canada and India.

Live recordings

The following bands recorded live performances in the arena:

• ABBA started their North American tour here in 1979, part of the tour document was recorded here.
• Trooper (band) filmed their single "3 Dressed Up As a 9" from their album Flying Colors on November 9, 1979, at the arena.^[31]
• Billy Graham videotaped his 1980 Northern Alberta crusade at the arena, which also featured a young Amy Grant as a musical guest.
• Dottie West recorded her 1983 Showtime special Dottie West: Full Circle with the Alberta Orchestra at the arena, which also featured Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, John Schneider, David Frizzell and Shelly West in August 1982.
• Rush performed at the arena on June 25, 1981; two songs from this concert were included on the 2012 reissue of their album 2112.
• Yes filmed their 1984 concert film 9012Live at the arena.
• Nickelback filmed their 2002 concert video Live at Home at the arena.
• Our Lady Peace recorded part of their 2003 record Live at the arena.
• Michael W. Smith recorded his live "Worship" DVD at YC Alberta.
• Corb Lund recorded his 2007 concert on video during the course of the Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! tour.
• Thousand Foot Krutch filmed their concert at YC Alberta on May 28, 2010, at the arena. Around 17500 fans sold out the arena for the concert.
• Metallica filmed part of their film Through the Never film during their two nights at the arena on August 17 and 18, 2012.
• Demi Lovato's performance at the arena on October 4, 2014, was filmed for a DVD release.

See also

• List of Commonwealth Games venues

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northlands Coliseum.

• Official website