Just months before the Edmonton Oilers play their first game at Rogers Place, the downtown arena’s architects are being sued by the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Arena Corporation (EAC).
On May 6, the two stakeholders filed a statement of claim against both 360 Architects Canada Inc. -who were the building’s original architects – and HOK Architects Corporation, who have since taken over the project.
READ MORE: Where does Rogers Place construction stand 6 months ahead of opening day?
The claim is in the amount of $4.8 million but a statement issued by the City of Edmonton and the EAC did not provide details as to what brought on the legal action and said the parties would not comment further as it was a legal matter. The statement said “it was necessary to proceed with legal action on that date to protect the City and EAC’s legal interests.”
The city and EAC said given the Rogers Place project is estimated to cost over $600 million, the claim being made was not unusual and added the project team “exercised the additional diligence of placing project insurance to cover this very kind of claim.
“The project team continues to be diligent to ensure we receive the level of quality for which the Owners contracted and the construction of Rogers Place remains on time and on budget. We will be opening Rogers Place in September 2016 as planned,” the joint statement from the City of Edmonton and the EAC said.
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The City and EAC said the project is nearing completion but HOK Architects will still be working on outstanding design needs with regard to the building.
An agreement between the City of Edmonton and the EAC will see the city pay $279 million towards Rogers Place, mostly through community revitalization levies. While the city will continue to own Rogers Place and the land it sits on, it is being built and will be operated by the EAC which is owned by Daryl Katz, who also owns the Edmonton Oilers.
Rogers Place has been pegged as the cornerstone building in a plan to revitalize Edmonton’s downtown through the development of the Ice District.
Scheduled opening dates for other buildings in the Ice District include:
Casino/Oilers Entertainment Group Offices – September 2016
Edmonton Office Tower – November 2016
JW Marriott Hotel – Summer 2018
Legends Residential Tower – Spring 2019
Stantec Office Tower – Fall 2018
Stantec Residential Units – Summer 2019
Stantec Tower Retail Podium – Fall 2018
Rogers Place is scheduled to open in September.
-With files from Caley Ramsay