Overview

Rexall Place is a multi-purpose indoor arena located on the Northlands exhibition grounds in Edmonton, Alberta. Opened on November 10, 1974, it served as the principal large indoor venue for professional ice hockey, lacrosse, concerts and community events for four decades. The building is frequently referred to by its former names in historical accounts and fan recollections.

Names and principal tenants

The facility has been known by several names during its history. It opened as the Northlands Coliseum and was later called the Edmonton Coliseum and the Skyreach Centre before acquiring corporate naming rights as Rexall Place. Over the years it was home to a number of teams and organizations, most notably:

References to the building as an arena or coliseum are both common in contemporary and retrospective sources. It is located in Edmonton, Alberta, a city with a long sporting tradition.

Design, facilities and role

The arena was designed as a flexible bowl suitable for ice hockey, indoor lacrosse, basketball and large-scale entertainment. It included spectator seating, player facilities, concourses and spaces for concessions and retail. Over time the venue was modernized with updated seating, scoreboards and public amenities to meet changing expectations for professional sports and touring shows.

Major events and cultural importance

Beyond regular-season sports, the venue hosted notable events spanning athletics and entertainment. It was a competition site during the 1978 Commonwealth Games and staged high-profile professional wrestling events such as WWE’s Backlash in 2004. Concerts, trade shows and community gatherings added to its role as a central gathering place for Edmonton residents.

Transition and legacy

In the 2010s the city and team ownership pursued a downtown replacement to provide more modern amenities and a different urban context. Construction began on a new downtown arena, later named Rogers Place in public sources, and the 2015–16 season was the Oilers’ final full season at Rexall Place. The move to the new facility for the 2016–17 season marked the end of an era for the building on the Northlands grounds.

Current status and notable facts

After the Oilers’ departure the arena continued to be discussed in terms of reuse, heritage and redevelopment. Fans and historians frequently use older names such as 1974 or the opening date when recounting memories. Its story intersects with local institutions and sports leagues—including the NHL, WHL, and NLL—highlighting the building’s long association with professional and amateur sport in Alberta. For further reading and archival material, municipal and sporting organization pages often preserve photos and records of the arena’s decades of activity. Northlands related event pages and venue histories also summarize renovations and notable dates.

Key points: the venue opened in the mid-1970s, served multiple teams and events, underwent several name changes tied to sponsors, and was succeeded by a downtown arena in the 2010s. Its legacy remains part of Edmonton’s cultural and sporting history.

More on arenas • Edmonton information • Opening references • 1974 context • League history • Lacrosse in Edmonton