Page 20 - 01-Jan-Feb-2025

CITY
“We feel that this is something that the neighbourhood
needs and wants, the rec centre, the pickleball, the racquet
sports, squash, as well as the cultural part.”
— Vedran Škopac, architect
He called saving the museum structure
“a win for us all.”
THE PLAN
Škopac says the new proposal is the
“starter of the conversation.”
The vision: A high-end grocery store,
restaurant, a sport and recreation centre,
plus an arts area. Edmonton Opera has
already expressed interest in moving in, for
some of its smaller scale productions that
the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium is
just too big to host.
Joel Ivany, the artistic director for the
Edmonton Opera, says that when he
first moved to this city to take the reins
of that artistic organization, he looked
immediately at the old RAM site and
thought it was an ideal spot.
“Edmonton Opera, an arts institution
in the City of Edmonton for over 60
years, has been looking for a space to
innovate, welcome patrons and honour
the deep legacy of community arts within
the city,” Ivany says.
“We feel that this is something that the
neighbourhood needs and wants,” says
Škopac. “The rec centre, the pickleball,
the racquet sports, squash, as well as
the cultural part. We see the opportunity
for Indigenous partners to come in and
co-create.”
But a profit driver might be the area
the public won’t see — the basement.
“We can see data centres being
there,” says Manasc. “The province has
a whole initiative around attracting data
centres. And, even though some of the
data centres are going to be ginormous,
billion-dollar things, there is a need
for small and medium data centres, for
artificial intelligence, for a lot of the re-
search being done here in Edmonton.”
Škopac likens the basement to a cold,
concrete bunker — perfect for storing the
machinery.
And, how fast can it be done? Škopac
says a year and a half to two years will
be enough to get the conversion of the
building done.
“It wouldn’t take a ton,” says Manasc.
“We’ve even done some of the test fits.
It certainly will not cost what the govern-
ment has said, to fit this building out. It’s
nowhere near the kind of money they are
talking about.
“The bones are good. There are some
challenges with the existing building, and
we know about that. We’ve read all the
technical reports. We’re architects and
engineers. Ivan Beljan is an engineer, as
well. We’re all technical people, so we have
a good understanding.”
“So, the roof is leaking,” says Škopac.
“So what? After 30, 40 years, every roof
leaks, especially if it’s not maintained.
It’s pretty common. Guess what? You fix
the roof. Move on. It’s a distraction
from the big picture. The big picture is
that we know the value of the property,
and the potential for the future is big.
For not that many resources, this
building can have a better life than it
ever had.” ED.
BY STEVEN SANDOR
20 EDify. JANUARY • FEBRUARY.25
RENDERINGS COURTESY REIMAGINE