Demolition of the former Edmonton Remand Centre in the city’s downtown will begin sometime this year, according to an announcement from the province Wednesday.
The demolition of the unoccupied building will make space for new building opportunities in the downtown core.
The old remand was built in 1979, but in 2013 was replaced by a much larger, new remand opened on the northern edge of the city along Anthony Henday Drive
The space has been unoccupied ever since and all systems were shut down in 2019 to save on operations costs, the province said.
The building was offered to government ministries to use in 2014, 2016 and 2019 but no interest was expressed.
It was, however, “sporadically used as a government training site, as temporary severe weather winter shelter in support of Boyle Street Community Services and as a filming location for a variety of film and television productions.”
“The remand centre was built specifically as a corrections facility and it would not be cost effective for government or private sector to repurpose for any other use,” reads a news release from the province.
Demolition of the building, which sits at 97 Street and 104 Avenue, is expected to start in June and be complete in 2025, at which time the land will be sold or repurposed, the province said.
“The fact that they’re able to look long term and see the value of demolishing it, I think is good,” said Mike Saunders, senior vice president of real estate developer Qualico properties.
“And it’s also good city-building because if it’s demolished, that can pave the way for some future revitalization for the area,” he added.
“I’m sure that Chinatown is very pleased with the announcement as well, and it’s an area that’s right for revitalization and some rejuvenation as well. “
Saunders said he toured the space before and said it was “eerie” — not at all a good space for anything other than a jail.
But with the building gone, the land could be used for housing or other city-enhancing development.
“It’s a very iconic location and we have a lot of development around the area,” said Sandy Pond, a realtor and co-founder of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton and board director of the Chinese Benevolent Society and
“It does bring in a lot of excitement, and hopefully we can all collaborate and do something about that together.”