Friends, it is now June. We are now entering probably the final 12 months of Scotia Place construction – particularly given the official pronouncements of a potential May 2027 handover of the building in advance of the expected September 2027 opening of the new barn.

With that in mind, let’s take a walk around the block to show off how things looked as of the second weekend in June 2026. Some progress has been made, and we solved a couple mysteries that we were pondering, too!

The new look:

Two weeks ago:

So what’s new? Well, the external panelling (in white/grey/brown) continues to work its way around the building, following the green building envelope panels. Eventually, it’ll be all we see from this view! Also, you’ll notice a steel frame appear below the patio level in the new image: we think that’s going to be the framework for the LED video ribbon that snakes around the outside of the building.

The first mystery that we think we solved: previously, we noted the steel framing installed on the upper patio area and wondered what that was about. Well, the City’s May timelapse video refers to it as a trellis, and if you look at the renderings, there’s a smaller version of it included on the patio area. Our best guess is that the trellis was expanded after the development permit process, which isn’t unusual – an expanded trellis allows them to provide more shade and hang more lighting and other things, which probably makes the outdoor patio area upstairs more functional for more of the year.

Here’s how it’s supposed to look from the renders:

The new look:

Two weeks ago:

12th Avenue was closed for some utility work when we were gawking around, but the progress continues. The green building envelope panels continue to spread around the building and down below you can see more progress being made on framing inside. It doesn’t look like a lot more progress has been made on the roof installation, but that has tended to move in big leaps so it’s not unexpected.

Here’s what this view is expected to look like from the renders:

The new look:

Two weeks ago:

Not a lot has changed from this view, aside from the extension of the building envelope panels and the expansion of work on the parkade structure.

The new look:

Two weeks ago:

Here’s where the most impressive progress is happening. Hey look, they finished the exterior steel for the arena bowl structure! The prior gap that existed has been enclosed. And we’re also seeing progress on the exterior steel for the Esso Community Arena structure.

For awhile, we’ve been wondering how they’ll finish the roof installation and get the crane out. The big white crane is the one used for installing the big roof trusses, and our theory was that there would be a gap left in the arena bowl steel so they can wiggle it out. Well, turns out we were wrong – being wrong is how we learn stuff – because the arena bowl steel is done. But there’s a gap in the community rink concrete – on purpose, for the zamboni to have access to the main rink and the community rink sheets – and our new theory is most of the roof steel will be installed by the white crane from inside the bowl, and then it’ll be disassembled and removed through the zamboni entrance (and the access ramp). That would leave the enclosure of the community rink roof – and the surface for the exterior entrance plaza – as one of the last big things to do, with the last bits of roofing steel installed by crane from outside of the building.

Here’s how things will look when they’re done:

We’ll see how things look later on as we progress into late June (and the Stampede).