Upcoming $27M renovation likely to change Butterdome’s shape, colour

One of Edmonton's most iconic buildings is about to get a new look as part of a multi-million dollar renovation. The renovations will modernize the Butterdome.

One of Edmonton’s most recognizable buildings is set for a multi-million-dollar renovation.

The University of Alberta’s Universiade Pavillion, the main campus’s 5,500-seat fieldhouse that’s better known as the Butterdome, has been home to several athletic disciplines and an event space for 42 years.

But the look of the Butterdome, which has been clad with yellow metal panelling since it opened in 1983, might change.

Kelly Hopkin, the post-secondary school’s manager of campus architecture, said on Wednesday that, considering the facility is located at a major entrance to campus for many people, the university would like to tie the structure “more into context” to help it be more welcoming and “more on brand.”

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“We’re going to do things to make it more transparent, so you can see it and daylight can get into it so it doesn’t feel like a 1980s fieldhouse, (instead) more like a recreation facility and cultural gathering spot for the city,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

Hopkin also said the envelope of the building is failing – including its foundation, walls, roof, windows and doors – and that its current shape will be modified, pointing out the rounded parapets on the edge of its roof he says aren’t conducive to the climate as they slough snow onto the sidewalk below.

He says leaks may worsen unless the exterior is renovated.

The Alberta government is footing the $27-million bill for the renovations that are expected to start in the spring.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell