For all the millennials in the room, you know the spot. In fact, you might have spent a lot of great nights there.
What was once an Edmonton hotspot with lineups every weekend, the building that housed the Oil City Roadhouse and then Knoxville’s Tavern, aged past its life as a useful building and quickly fell into disrepair on one of Edmonton’s busiest streets.
Maclab Development Group purchased the building on the southwest corner of Jasper Ave. and 108 St. It will one day transform into a premium 45-storey residential tower with ground-level amenities and an abundance of commercial space. But until then, Maclab has made a major investment in bringing beauty back to the block and created a significant impact downtown.
“It’s a big investment but it has a bigger impact and that’s really what building communities is all about,” said Janelle Brenner, director of marketing and communications for Maclab Development Group.
With support from the City of Edmonton’s Downtown Vibrancy Fund, Maclab Development Group partnered with the Edmonton Mural Festival and Edmonton-born artist David Camisa to create a vibrant, colourful mural. Camisa’s imaginative art stretches from the top of the west side of the building all the way to the south-facing street front.
“It’s important to create vibrant spaces and places for Edmontonians and people visiting our city,” said Brenner. “And we want to create those spaces to showcase our amazing arts and culture community in Edmonton.”
“We can’t stress enough the importance of beautifying spaces like this,” said Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. “It is highly visible and, for years, detracted from all the positive and exciting things happening in the area, creating an impression of neglect and decline. Bright, colourful, well-maintained spaces bring people to the area and create great experiences, an important part of revitalization efforts downtown.”
Brenner, who led the project for Maclab, said she wanted the mural to reflect their current work in the area, but also represent Edmonton’s iconic skyline.
“There’s the Walterdale Bridge, there’s also Edmonton House which Maclab built and owned for many, many years,” said Brenner. “We’ve been developing in Edmonton since 1952, we’ve been here a long time, and we’ve developed some of that skyline. I wanted Edmonton’s downtown history to be captured in this piece, and David [the artist] was able to integrate those elements perfectly.”
The north tower of The Parks is now in pre-leasing with the second tower being built where the mural currently stands. To learn more about the Parks, visit www.livetheparks.com.