"Reaction was generally positive Thursday to plans for the downtown arena and entertainment complex outlined at the project's first public open house. People crowded into the Art Gallery of Alberta lobby before the event's official 11 a.m. start to look at posters giving broad details about the proposal and showing four new drawings of how it might look. "It would be amazing for us to have such a thing," said Kayla Oscroft, who came from Commerce Place to see the display with co-worker Kim McKenzie. "Calgary has a lot nicer downtown than we do, a lot of pedestrian areas. It would be nice to have something like that." McKenzie agreed the project looks like a good idea, but both women felt the city shouldn't be on the hook for the entire $400-million estimated cost of building the arena. The Katz Group, which owns the Oilers, has suggested the city borrow the money and repay it with property taxes from the rest of the development, including about $1-billion worth of hotels, office towers, housing and stores." http://www.edmontonjournal.com/spor...ans flock arena open house/2994881/story.html
