Edmonton city council's urban planning committee recommended setting aside more space for KDays as the Exhibition Lands are redeveloped, accepting Explore Edmonton's position that the annual fair needs at least 30 hectares. That's almost twice as much as the original plan imagined but is still less than the 55 hectares that comprise the fair's current footprint in and around the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
Explore Edmonton is looking forward to having residential development on the Exhibition Lands once the Coliseum is demolished, but the fair can still co-exist with housing, CEO Traci Bednard told CBC. "We're really excited for the development of those Expo lands," she said. "We're really looking for that vision that drives both of those in a complementary way."
The committee's decision comes as Tourism Week wraps up. KDays brings more than $84 million a year into Edmonton's economy, said Arlindo Gomes, Explore Edmonton's vice-president of business development. "Other cities are investing in their festival and event infrastructure, so I think it's important Edmonton does the same," he said in a Postmedia story, calling the Exhibition Lands an asset that can't easily be replaced.