IN PHOTOS: Behind-the-scenes tour of downtown Edmonton’s ever-evolving Ice District

Edmonton’s skyline is changing.

Wednesday marked the official opening of Canada’s tallest tower outside of Toronto: the Stantec Tower located right in the heart of Edmonton. With the addition of other prominent buildings, like Rogers Place and the J.W. Marriott Hotel, downtown Edmonton looks much different now than even just a few years ago.

On Thursday, the media was given a behind-the-scenes look at construction progress in Ice District, which is planned to be the largest mixed-use sports and entertainment district in Canada.

“It’s going extremely well,” Katz Group President Glen Scott said of the construction progress.

“We built literally billions of dollars of infrastructure during the height of one of the worst economic downturns Albertans have ever faced. It’s not always smooth sailing but overall it’s been going exceptionally well.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We built literally billions of dollars of infrastructure during the height of one of the worst economic downturns Albertans have ever faced. It's not always smooth sailing but overall it's been going exceptionally well."

One noticeable change to the original plan is the elimination of the movie theatre. Originally, the vision for the third skyscraper in Ice District included a movie theatre on the second floor. Officials announced Thursday the movie theatre is officially out of the plan.

SKY Residences

High atop the 60-storey Stantec Tower sits 483 private condominium suites. SKY Residences also offers more than 20,000-square-feet of amenity space on the 30th floor, a rooftop patio, outdoor fireplaces and a fitness centre.

The condos will be ready for residents to move in next fall.

Scroll through the gallery below to see renderings of the SKY Residences 

J.W. Marriott

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Edmonton will soon be home to just the third J.W. Marriott hotel in Canada. The 55-storey building with the city’s second-tallest tower, located right next door to the Stantec Tower.

The building will also be home to private residences, 10 meeting spaces and a restaurant operated by Oliver and Bonacini Restaurants.

Scroll through the gallery below to see construction progress and the vision for the tower.

Ice District Plaza

Construction continues on the 50,000-square-foot Ice District Plaza outside of Rogers Place. The vision for this space is to be the “epicentre of energy” within the downtown district.

Once complete, the plaza will be able to hold up to 8,000 people and utilized year-round. The plaza is expected to be open in the spring or summer of 2019.

Scroll through the gallery below to see construction on the area.

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