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Baccarat Casino Set to Open in 2017 in Edmonton Canada Interesting - the Candian Baccarat Casino... anyone know how this'll look like?
Within the day-to-day city hall cacophony, an underlying plan is discerned.
Mayor Steve Mandel and this council want the northwest LRT line built out to Kingsway Avenue ASAP, because ...
It will service the new downtown arena when it opens on what's now the Baccarat Casino land bordering 101 Street and 104 Avenue.
It will service the 2017 World's Fair, the initial use of the post-aviation City Centre Airport land (along with NAIT's expansion.)
It can angle across the airport land en route to St. Albert, thanks to provincial government grants encouraging mass transit and regional planning.
READING THE TEA LEAVES
With this scenario, all the following makes sense.
Despite loud neighbourly protest, city council pushed ahead with the proposed at-surface northwest LRT route. Underlying reason: Get the LRT out to the expected World's Fair 2017 site without delay.
City council OK'd a proposal by the transportation department to build an LRT station shell within the now-under-construction substructure of the EPCOR Tower of Power.
Underlying reason: It'll also service an arena on the across-the-street Baccarat land.
Observation: Not a peep out of Baccarat's owners regarding their redevelopment plans of late, and they hold prime land (three continuous square blocks) on which could be plopped the new arena, casino, convention centre, hospitality zone, hotel, office and condo towers.
The players - the casino, Oilers, developers (Daryl Katz?), Northlands, the city - must be talking.
Why else would Baccarat abandon its redevelopment plan?
READING THE TEA LEAVES II
Why the sudden urgency to settle the City Centre Airport's future by next spring?
Because Mayor Mandel believes we're well-positioned to land that 2017 World's Fair.
Where the heck else would it go?
It all makes so much sense. And this is a rare city council, united in a desire to leave a legacy.
If the taxpayers don't rebel.
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