Oilers' move downtown leaves hole in Edmonton neighbourhood

There's an old proverb that says a good neighbour increases your property value.

For the businesses surrounding Rexall Place, it's as if an old neighbour whoonce delivered home-baked goods and occasionally threw a great party has moved away and upgraded to a nicer home, leaving friends andmemories behind.

And there's no doubt, the businesses near Rexall Place feel left behind now that the city's hockey teams have moved downtown.

"A lot of memories, it's sad," saidDimitraScordas,one of the owners of Coliseum Steak, Ribs and Pizza on118thAvenue, a family-run business whose history is inextricably tied with that ofthe Oilers. "We are going to miss them terribly."

The restaurant openedin 1976, two years after the team moved into what wasthen the Northlands Coliseum. For decades it hasbanked, at least in part,on nostalgia to sellsteak and pizza.Every wall in the place is covered with Oilers' memorabilia, including a painting of Wayne Gretzky, PaulCoffeyand DaveLumleyhoisting the Stanley Cup over their heads.

"There's a lot of nostalgia here, so I think a lot of people will come back,"Scordassaid during a recent lunch-time rush, the parking lot andrestaurant packed with regulars.

Whether or not customers will still come to the neighbourhood on gamenights is the biggestquestion.

Constantine Stavropoulos, owner of the Fireside, already knows the answer tothat question they won't. He built his restaurant in 1973, at the same timethat the Coliseum, once heralded as a state-of-the-art sports arena, wasrising next door.

"I built it and I'm still here," Stavropoulos said. "I should have left a long timeof go. I'm very old."

Semi-retired now, hehasbeen trying to sell the restaurant.

"The Oiler's were good for 40 days when they were here," he said,standing neara painting of Gretzky."I won't miss theOilers.I'll miss the people."

Still, Stavropoulos has some pretty good stories. Like thetime he served Gretzky a ham sandwich, or the time he gave DaveSemenko heck for eating a huge stack of pancakes before the game.

"Idon't do nothing, I just sit on the bench," is what Semenko told him that day, he says.

From a table inside the Fireside,you can see pigeons landing on the roof ofRexall Place, where the sign was recently replaced with the now more-accurate one, Northlands Coliseum. Right now, Stravropoulos isn't seeing awhole lot of business come through his door, saying traffic in the area isdown.

Like other restaurants and businesses that relied on the big neighbournext door, Stravropoulos said it's what comes next that counts

"Right now, people just drive through," he said. "Depends what will be across the street."

The re-think in the wake of Rexall

The closest hotel to the Oilers'old stomping grounds is theColiseum Inn, where you can rent a room for $81 a night, tax included.Assistant general manager, Alykzandrea Broadbent admitted the hotel now has to change from a party hotel to one thatattracts families. Not an easy transition,especially when you don't know what the future holds for theneighbourhood.

"It has kind of changed the whole dynamic of the hotel," she said. "We're no longergoing to be that events-based hotel. Even though the games haven't started yet, we're definitely feeling theeffects of missing the Oilers. We used to be full and now we're strugglingto get people."

The old neighbours, the ones the Oilers have left behind, say they understand why their beloved team opted for extra space and fancynew downtown digs, instead of costly, ongoing renovations. Still, they ask, whydidn't the City of Edmonton and Northlands do a better job of findingsomeone to take the team's place?

"The worst, definitely, would be if they completely tore it down, and leftnothing," saidBroadbent."Then, we'd have nothing around us."

In September,Edmonton city council voted unanimously to move ahead with a new sportsplex proposal for the Coliseum arena. The idea, originally proposed by Northlands, still needs approval from the OilersEntertainment Group.

Northlands' proposal, not surprisingly, is what business owners near the Coliseum are hoping for.

Broadbentsaid she supports the proposal for amulti-rink sports facility that caters to hockey teamsand tournaments.

"It's a waiting game right now to see what they're goingto do."

For now, the same thing that compelled business ownersto setup shop 40 years ago is what has themoptimistic for the future of the Coliseum potential. They still long for the glory days,when Gretzky was king and steak sandwiches were feeding a packed restaurant full of fans.

Though those days are over, they can't help but sneak the occasional peek out their windows, to see if anyone is thinking about moving into the big house next door.