What to See in Edmonton - Top Sights and Attractions

Arboretum in Edmonton, Alberta. The Muttart Conservatory is a botanical garden located in the North Saskatchewan river valley, across from the downtown core in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. One of the best-known landmarks of Edmonton, the conservatory consists of three city-operated greenhouses, public gardens, as well as four feature pyramids for display of plant species found across three biomes, with the fourth pyramid hosting a seasonal display. A fifth minor skylight pyramid lights up the central foyer.

A donation from the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation provided momentum for the conservatory's construction, with the remaining funding supplied by the Government of Alberta and the City of Edmonton. The conservatory is staffed and operated by the Edmonton Parks and Recreation Department.^[3]

Long-time museum with art exhibits. The Art Gallery of Alberta is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies a 8,000 square metres building at Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittorf, and B. James Wensley, although portions of that structure were demolished or built over during a redevelopment of the building by Randall Stout.

The art museum was established in 1924 as the Edmonton Museum of Arts. In 1956 the museum was renamed the Edmonton Art Gallery. The museum occupied a number of location from its establishment in 1924 to 1969. The museum was relocated to its present location and reopened to the public in 1969 at the Brutalist Arthur Blow Condell building. In 2005, the museum was renamed Art Gallery of Alberta. From 2007 to 2010, the art museum underwent a CA$88 million redevelopment of its building. The redeveloped building was reopened to the public on January 31, 2010.

Its collection includes over 6,000 works, with a focus on art produced in Alberta, and other parts of western Canada. In addition to exhibiting its permanent collection, the museum also hosts travelling exhibitions and offers public education programs.^[9]

Park in Edmonton, Alberta. William Hawrelak Park is a park in Edmonton, Alberta. Formerly known as Mayfair Park, it was initially going to be developed into a 500-lot subdivision; however, when the Strathcona Land Syndicate forfeited their taxes the city obtained the title for the land in 1922. This land lay unused until 1954, when Mayor William Hawrelak proposed to create a 350-acre riverside park in this area as it would “fit into the overall park development of the City along the lines of the zoo, and the golf courses and other picnic areas”. The digging of the man-made lakes began in 1959 and later was completed in 1964 but had few facilities. The official opening day of Mayfair Park was on Dominion Day, July 1, 1967. It was renamed in 1982 for Hawrelak, who died in office in 1975 while serving as mayor of Edmonton.^[10]

Cinema in Edmonton, Alberta. The Princess Theatre is a two-screen art-house cinema located at 10337 Whyte Avenue in Edmonton's historic Old Strathcona neighbourhood. The building was designed by prominent Edmonton architects Wilson and Herrald, a firm responsible for the design of many other Edmonton heritage sites. It became Edmonton's oldest surviving theatre after the demolition of the Gem Theatre in 2006. The building currently houses the main 400-seat theatre as well as the 100-seat Princess II, located in the basement.

It was originally known as the McKernan Block, after John W. McKernan, the building's original financier, owner, and manager.

The building and the theatre within has changed ownership several times, and its fortunes have largely depended on the state of the Canadian theatre industry at the time. It spent a dozen years as a retail space from 1958 to 1970, and six years from 1970 to 1976 mainly exhibiting mainstream pornographic films. The Princess was operated successfully as a repertory theatre from 1978 to late 1996, after which it became a first run theatre. Until 2016, the Princess was operated as a first run theatre by Edmonton's native Magic Lantern Theatres. Since January 2016 the cinema has been operated by Plaza Entertainment.^[11]

Arena in Edmonton, Alberta. Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association and National Hockey League, and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. The arena opened in 1974, and was later known as Edmonton Coliseum, Skyreach Centre, and Rexall Place, before returning to the Northlands Coliseum name in summer 2016.

The arena hosted the 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup hockey tournaments, the 1978 Commonwealth Games, seven Stanley Cup finals, many other hockey events, along with other sporting events and major concerts.

The final NHL game played at the arena was on April 6, 2016. The building closed on New Year's Day 2018, after ownership of the facility was transferred from Northlands to the City of Edmonton. Northlands had planned to re-develop the arena into a multi-level ice facility, but these plans were scrapped after it was found that renovating the facility would be more costly than building a new one altogether.^[13]

Movie theatre in Edmonton, Alberta. The Garneau Theatre is a historic movie theatre located on 109 Street in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The theatre originally operated independently until it joined with Famous Players in 1941. It closed in late 1990, and reopened in December 1991 under Magic Lantern Theatres who restored it in 1996. Magic Lantern operated the Garneau until June 2011 when it closed. The Garneau became Metro Cinema's new home in July 2011, and was officially reopened in September 2011.

It was designated a Municipal Historic Resource on October 28, 2009.

Designed by noted Edmonton architect William Blakey and built in 1940, the Garneau is the only remaining theatre of the early modernist style and period in Alberta.^[17]

Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta. Commonwealth Stadium, known as The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium during Edmonton Elks events, is an open-air, multipurpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian football, it also hosts athletics, soccer, rugby union and concerts.

Construction commenced in 1975 and the venue opened ahead of the 1978 Commonwealth Games (hence its name), replacing the adjacent Clarke Stadium as the home of the Edmonton Eskimos (the Elks' name until 2020). It received a major expansion ahead of the 1983 Summer Universiade, when it reached a capacity of 60,081. Its main tenants are the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and has hosted five Grey Cups, the CFL's championship game. The stadium had remained the only CFL venue with natural grass for a long time, until FieldTurf Duraspine Pro was installed in 2010.

Soccer tournaments include nine FIFA World Cup qualification matches with Canada Men's National Soccer Team, two versions of the invitational Canada Cup, the 1996 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament, the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. FC Edmonton played its Canadian Championship matches at Commonwealth Stadium from 2011 to 2013. The stadium is also listed as a potential site for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Canada will co-host with Mexico and the United States.

Other events at the stadium include the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup and three editions of the Churchill Cup.^[18]

Minor basilica in Edmonton, Alberta. St. Joseph's Cathedral Basilica is a minor basilica in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The basilica, located west of downtown Edmonton is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton and is one of the largest churches in Edmonton. St. Joseph, which seats about 1,100 people, is the only minor basilica in Western Canada.

Of architectural note are the 60 stained glass windows depicting the Twelve Apostles, Old Testament characters, scenes from the Bible, and from the church's connection to St. Albert, the first diocese in Alberta. Today, St. Joseph's Basilica is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton. As the seat of the archdiocese, it is the church of the archbishop.^[20]

Bridge in Edmonton, Alberta. The High Level Bridge is a bridge that spans the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Located next to the Alberta Legislature Building, the bridge linked the separate communities of Edmonton and Strathcona, which became one city in 1912. It was designed from the outset to accommodate rail, streetcar, two-way automobile, and pedestrian traffic. The original bridge design included three tracks on the upper deck. The first CPR train operated on June 2, 1913, after which the bridge became a part of the Calgary-Edmonton main line. Streetcar service started on the west streetcar track of the bridge on August 11, 1913 with the east streetcar track opening by September of that year and automobile traffic after that. Automobile traffic did not begin at the same time as CPR and streetcar traffic as the lower deck had not been completed and the installation of galvanized iron under the tracks was still needed to prevent cinders dropping from steam trains onto traffic on the lower deck. Streetcars travelling northbound operated on the upstream side of the bridge, and southbound streetcars operated on the downstream side of the bridge; This left-hand operation was contrary to the right-hand driving on the lower traffic deck.

The bridge was transferred to the ownership of the City of Edmonton in 1994 and designated a Municipal Historic Resource in 1995. Trucks are prohibited on the bridge due to the low clearance of 3.2 metres (10 ft 6 in) and substandard lane width. Currently street traffic is one-way southbound. At the north end of the bridge, 109 Street enters into the left lane, and 110 Street enters into the right lane. The next bridge downstream, the Walterdale Bridge, is a three-lane bridge with one-way northbound traffic into downtown.

The last Edmonton Transit System operated streetcar travelled over the bridge on September 1, 1951 and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), responsible for the design of the bridge, ceased rail operations over the span in 1989. The upper deck contains only the one middle track now, which is currently used only by the High Level Bridge Streetcar, a historic streetcar route that travels from the Strathcona Streetcar Barn & Museum, just north of the Strathcona Farmers Market, in Old Strathcona, to Jasper Plaza south of Jasper Avenue, between 109 Street and 110 Street, in downtown, with three intermediate stops.^[32]

Neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta. McCauley is a vibrant and ethnically diverse inner city neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta undergoing revitalization. It is named for Matthew McCauley, the first mayor of Edmonton, and is located just to the north east of the Downtown core. McCauley is famous as the home of dozens of religious buildings concentrated in a small area as well as being a large venue for the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

The neighbourhood is roughly triangle-shaped, bounded on the north by 111 Avenue/Norwood Boulevard, the west by 101 Street, and the south east by the LRT line and the old Canadian National Railway right of way.

Out of 272 Edmonton neighbourhoods evaluated, McCauley is the 11th most walkable with a Walk Score of 79, or "Very Walkable".

The community is represented by the McCauley Community League, established in 1935, which runs a Community centre located at 95 Street and 108 Avenue.^[34]