Crews begin tearing down Northlands grandstand, the last racing building on Edmonton site
The former Spectrum building, which held the old grandstand and casino, is the final structure left from the Northlands Park racetrack complex.
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Demolition crews started taking apart the former Northlands Spectrum building in Edmonton on Monday, Sept. 21. The building housed the old grandstand and casino at Northlands Park and is the last of nine structures that once made up the horse racing complex on the exhibition grounds.
The project has a budget of $10.8 million. Planning and hazardous material removal began last fall. The older buildings on the site contained lead and asbestos, so a detailed plan was needed before work could start.
City officials said the work is on schedule. Jack Ashton, a general supervisor in the city's infrastructure services department, expects demolition to finish by the end of the year if the weather co-operates. Workers will sort the debris into steel studs, steel, concrete, drywall and other materials before trucking it away, and Ashton said most of it can be recycled.
The work also includes regrading the land for future development. "If we get an early freeze or a lot of snow, then we'll have to wait until spring to really grade the site properly," Ashton said.
More than a century of racing
Horse racing on the exhibition grounds dates back more than 100 years, and a casino was added in the 1990s. Northlands closed the racetrack and casino in 2019 and wound down all of its operations two years later. The building, now called the Edmonton Spectrum, was most recently used as a temporary shelter by Hope Mission until it was judged unfit for occupancy in 2023.
The city plans to turn the exhibition lands into a 200-acre, transit-oriented neighbourhood with up to 3,500 homes and commercial space. Neal Osaduik, the city's director of land development, said full buildout will probably take 20 to 30 years and will depend on the market. There is no budget yet for the overall redevelopment.
Preparation is also under way to demolish the nearby Coliseum, the Edmonton Oilers' former arena. Physical demolition of that building is expected to start next spring.