Casino Rogers Place Edmonton
River Cree Resort & Casino, Edmonton to Rogers Place - 5 ways to travel. The cheapest way to get from River Cree Resort & Casino, Edmonton to Rogers Place costs only $2, and the quickest way takes just 16 mins. Find the travel option that best suits you.
- The Grand Villa Casino Parkade is located in the heart of the ICE District. Park here and you're steps away from the Rogers Place, Grand Villa Casino, and the many eateries and pubs in the area. This parkade is operated and managed by Impark and has underground and heated parking spots available for hourly, daily, and monthly parking. Please note that public parking is available only on level P1.
- In a statement, Oilers Entertainment Group’s senior vice-president of corporate communications Tim Shipton said “events scheduled at Rogers Place and ICE District are going ahead.
- Hockey fans in Edmonton may be watching NHL playoff games while enjoying a brew or two at an outdoor venue near Rogers Place. The Oilers Entertainment Group plans to open a drive-in and outdoor.
Update: Oilers Entertainment Group spokesperson Tim Shipton said on Thursday, July 23, that the organization was no longer moving ahead with this original plan but confirmed OEG was working on a strategy on how to involve fans safely.
Hockey fans in Edmonton may be watching NHL playoff games while enjoying a brew or two at an outdoor venue near Rogers Place.
The Oilers Entertainment Group plans to open a drive-in and outdoor venue, which would include a beer garden or tent, on the grounds of the former Baccarat Casino at the corner of 104th Avenue and 101st Street.
Tim Shipton, a spokesperson for the OEG, said they are working with the City of Edmonton's civic events branch to set up a physically-distanced Oilers FanFest zone.
The plan is to launch the venue Aug. 1 and screen evening and weekend games through to the Stanley Cup finals, Shipton said.
Shipton estimates they'll show about 80 games but if the FanFest zone is successful and there's more demand, the OEG will open the venue for more games.
Social distancing is hard enough to do when you're sober.- Coun. Scott McKeen
The idea of social gatherings during NHL games isn't an automatic selling point for Coun. Scott McKeen.
'I know that we all need something, to break our monotony and give us something to be delighted by,' McKeen said in an interview Tuesday.
McKeen, however, is wary about the ability for fans to celebrate safely.
'Social distancing is hard enough to do when you're sober,' he said. 'And you know — good luck when people have had a few pops and are also then in celebration when their team has scored a goal and won.'
Still, McKeen recognizes that people are excited for the NHL to start up again and hopes the hub city vibe will help the Oilers make it to the playoffs.
'If there's some injection of cash into the community and those guys run their beer garden well and the bars are really quite disciplined in restricting the numbers and keeping people from high-fiving and hugging, then it'll all be good,' McKeen told CBC News.
'But there'll be no joy in Mudville if COVID-19 increases.'
A spokesperson for the City of Edmonton, Karen McDonnell, said the OEG will have to get the appropriate permits and business licensing to host any fan activities.
The OEG plan must also fall within current guidelines and be approved by Alberta Health Services, the Edmonton Police Service and the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, McDonnell noted.
Tom McMillan, a spokesperson for Alberta Health, said as with any outdoor event, the organizers will be required to follow guidelines set out by the chief medical officer of health.
'This guidance is intended to protect the public and limit the spread of COVID-19,' McMillan wrote in an email.
The OEG continues to create a bubble around Rogers Place for NHL players and this week erected a fence around the building.
Dozens of employees at the Grand Villa Casino in downtown Edmonton face layoffs, including some who received their notices of termination this week.
Since Tuesday, company representatives at the 60,000-square-foot casino across from Rogers Place arena have been handing out layoff notices, said Michael Hughes, a communications representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
The layoffs are happening in all areas of the casino, including Starbucks, Hughes told CBC News on Thursday.
Employees of Sbarro Pizza, Vera's Burger Shack and Pinkberry have also been laid off and the restaurants have been shut down.
'We had our union representative there as well as legal counsel with people to ensure the collective agreement was being respected,' Hughes said.
He told CBC News that some full-time workers have been given the option to reduce their status to part-time. They have until Friday to decide.
Reports of the layoffs came approximately two weeks after Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited, which owns Grand Villa, announced in a news release it was reducing hours because of low traffic.
'These temporary operational changes are necessary due to the lack of business caused by the extensive delays in the construction in the downtown core and lack of well-lit surface parking in close proximity to the casino,' Tanya Gabara, Gateway's director of public relations, said Thursday in a statement.
Gabara said the company and the union have agreed to a 'workforce adjustment' plan intended to minimize the impact on employees.
Employees have been offered options, she said, to take a 'voluntary exit package,' to move to Gateway's other casino in Edmonton or to change from full-time to part-time.
'It is difficult to state an exact number of impacted employees at this time until all of these options have been explored with our employees, which is our priority,' Gabara said.
Starting on Sept. 15, the casino will only be open Thursday to Sunday from noon to 1 a.m., though it will remain open for all major events and concerts at Rogers Place.
'We're blindsided'
Hughes said casino employees were warned about the reduced hours but weren't told exactly what that meant.
'The layoffs are disappointing and we're blindsided by it,' he said.
Workers felt betrayed, Hughes said, because they were in a collective bargaining with Gateway Casinos in the spring and the company came in with what he called a heavy-handed approach.
'Basically threatened the employees with a lockout if they didn't take a number of concessions to their contract,' Hughes said. 'Our members voted to accept those takeaways with the promise that the company would be able to try and turn things around.'
Blaming construction or the economy is unreasonable because many businesses continue to operate downtown, the union representative said.
Hughes said employees will receive benefits for up to six months after termination and will be placed on a recall list in case there are any openings.
The casino opened in September 2016.
Rogers Place Edmonton Casino Restaurants
Casino Rogers Place Edmonton Canada
Before the layoffs, it had 226 unionized employees — 83 full-time and 143 part-time.