Edmonton City Council voted in favour of rezoning a piece of downtown land to make way for the construction of an 80-storey tower.
The vote was close, with seven councillors voting in favour of rezoning the land and five voting against.
The vote came after a public hearing heard from dozens of people, the majority of whom were against the idea.
Mayor Don Iveson was among those who voted against the motion.
City council had already approved a deal to sell 0.5 hectares of land in The Quarters for the Alldritt Tower.
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The 280-metre-high, 80-storey mixed-use tower, proposed by Alldritt Land Corp. and architect Brad Kennedy, would be built along the embankment above Louise McKinney Park.
The thin skyscraper would be located on the south side of Jasper Avenue, east of the Shaw Conference Centre, and west of 96 Street.
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Developer Alldritt Group assured the city that a park built on its land will be accessible to the public. The public will also be able to use the connecting path from the proposed tower down to Louise McKinney Park and the Urban Balcony.
There have been concerns that the proposed tower would be out of scale — too large to be right on the River Valley.
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