A downtown arena project is still under consideration by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, and the municipality is in negotiations with a business that may be able to arrange for tenancy in the completed arena who has an affiliation with the Edmonton Oilers. Talks with International Coliseums Company about the creation of a Sports and Entertainment Centre started on March 6 of this year and they are still going on. Initially the council was working with Clearwater Consortium and a non-binding letter of intent was signed, but discussions stopped roughly a month ago when it became apparent that both sides were so far apart that an agreement would not be possible. Eventually negotiations were started with the new company instead.

The new Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo negotiations over the downtown arena project shows that the project will go forward in spite of past delays. According to RMWB supply chain management director Ted Zlotnik “We weren’t able to reach a deal that I believed benefits the taxpayers and the citizens of Fort McMurray,. The key terms were not agreed to between both parties … our best and final offer and their best and final offer did not match and we parted ways. We had our first face-to-face meeting, talked about the key terms we would like to see in that letter of intent. (It) looks promising, both sides seem to understand the intricacies of the deal.” Hopefully the downtown arena project will attract attention and people to Fort MacMurray and provide economic opportunities.