‘THIS HAS BEEN A LONG JOURNEY’
Saskatoon's new art gallery beset by rising costs, shifting directions
October 1964: The Mendel Art Gallery, built for $600,000, opens on the South Saskatchewan River’s northwest bank between the University Bridge and the Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge. The project is paid for by meatpacking mogul and philanthropist Fred Mendel, the city and the province.
1975: The Mendel Art Gallery expands.
1994, 1995: Upgrades worth $900,000 include a new vapour barrier, improved insulation and a new roof.
December 2001: Gallery officials announce plans for a $13-million expansion, slated for completion in 2006. The expansion would require money from the city, province, federal government and private sources. Coun. Don Atchison expresses skepticism about the need to expand the Mendel: “The $13 million would build you a bridge. It’s priorities.” Gallery officials say the expansion would not alter the gallery’s public space, but greatly improve the storage and preparation areas. Some galleries refuse to stage shows at the Mendel because of the deteriorating conditions. The gallery also turns down donations of art because it lacks the capacity to expand its collection.
December 2003: Newly elected Mayor Don Atchison leads opposition to a $175,000 request from the Mendel to start planning its expansion. The request is defeated 6-5 by city council during budget deliberations. A few days later, council, including Atchison, reverses its decision and approves $163,000. “We’ll let bygones be bygones,” Atchison says.
March 2004: Gallery chooses Kindrachuk Agrey Architecture to design the expansion.
July 2004: Gallery executive director and CEO Terry Graff says admission fees might be considered for the expanded gallery.
October 2004: Expansion details are revealed. The gallery would grow to 43,056 sq. ft. from 25,188 square feet. The gallery’s cafe would pay tribute to legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, an honorary co-chair of the fundraising campaign.
November 2004: The cost of expansion has risen to $18 million, due to rising construction costs and the planned inclusion of skylights and an expansion of the conservatory. The proposal would split costs more or less equally between the city, province, federal government and private fundraising.
April 2005: The federal Liberal minority government announces $438,500 in funding for the first phase of the Mendel expansion. The remaining $4 million is left in uncertainty as the possibility of an election looms.
September 2005: City council votes to award Kindrachuk Agrey Architecture a contract worth nearly $1 million to design the expanded gallery. Some councillors express concern over the lack of a detailed business plan.
September 2005: City council approves in principle a plan for a $31.3-million cultural centre on Parcel Y at River Landing. The centre would include Persephone Theatre, the Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA), a Tourism Saskatoon visitor centre and the Joni Mitchell Centre for Creativity. Some councillors express skepticism about the cultural centre plan.
October 2005: A city report says the Mendel board will consider moving into the cultural centre with the MVA then moving into the old Mendel building. The idea is widely criticized — the entire cultural centre would only be slightly larger than the expanded Mendel — with benefactors and volunteers threatening to pull their support. The Mendel board rejects the move.
November 2005: Plans for the River Landing culture centre are put on hold, in part because the city plans to use most of the $10 million sought from the federal government to pay for a new Traffic Bridge. A new $11-million home for Persephone opens at a location slightly west of Parcel Y in 2007. The rest of the cultural centre plan never materialized and the condemned Traffic Bridge lasted five more years before closing for good.
March 2006: A lack of federal money from a special fund leaves the Mendel expansion plans in limbo. The Persephone project gets $2.5 million from the same fund.
April 2006: The provincial government turns down a request to match the $4.5-million commitment from the city for Mendel expansion.
April 2007: The Mendel board reviews the possibility of admission fees.
July 2007: Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert announces $4 million to go toward the Mendel expansion.
October 2007: The latest estimate for Mendel expansion rises to $21.5 million.
November 2007: Mendel executive director and CEO Terry Graff resigns after four years when the
board informs him his contract will not be renewed when it expires in October 2008. Mendel board chair Art Knight says the board wants a “fresh approach.” Vincent Varga is eventually hired to replace Graff.
April 2009: Plans are announced by gallery and City of Saskatoon officials for a new $55-million Art Gallery of Saskatchewan next to Persephone Theatre at River Landing. “We needed to rethink what we were doing,” Mendel CEO Vincent Varga says, citing a lack of federal money for the Mendel expansion plan. Construction on the 100,000-sq.-ft. facility with 250 underground parking stalls is slated to begin in the fall of 2009. The gallery is expected to be completed by the fall of 2012. Just $8.7 million in funding from the province and city is in place.
September 2009: The new plan for the River Landing gallery, now estimated at $58 million, gets $26 million in funding commitments — $13 million each from the federal and provincial governments. Another $8 million is expected to come from private fundraising. The amount expected to come from the city has now risen from $4.5 million to $24 million, including $7 million for the parkade. Construction is now slated to begin in 2011 with the project completed in 2014.
November 2009: City council approves the gallery move to River Landing despite a “Save the Mendel” campaign and strong opposition from Fred Mendel’s grandchildren. Mayor Don Atchison addresses allegations the city steered the project. Mendel board chair Art Knight says the board made the decision for the move. “There have been some totally not accurate or factual allegations made,” Atchison says. Only councillor Pat Lorje votes against the move. The province’s contribution is now $17 million.
There have been some totally not accurate or factual allegations made.
August 2010: An $8-million expansion of the gallery is proposed to add a second level of underground parking and a “shell space” for future gallery use. Start of construction is now bumped back to 2012.
May 2011: The proposed Art Gallery of Saskatchewan design is unveiled along with a new price tag — $84 million. “Today is a day for rejoicing,” Mayor Don Atchison says at a gathering at River Landing. Atchison vows: “We won’t be increasing taxes to look after the Art Gallery of Saskatchewan.” The size of the new building has jumped to 125,000 sq. ft. The fundraising goal is reset at $20 million to cover the majority of the increase. The city’s contribution has jumped to $34 million, including $13 million for the parkade.
June 2011: Saskatoon philanthropist Ellen Remai, whose name will adorn the gallery, donates $30 million toward the project, including $15 million to help build the facility and another $15 million for programming over 30 years. “A great city deserves great art,” Remai says at a news conference at River Landing.
April 2012: Council approves a plan to borrow $27 million, including $21 million for the gallery and $6 million for the parkade. The gallery is slated to open in 2015. Mayor Don Atchison claims the $27 million from the city is cheaper than the cost of expanding the Mendel, which he estimates at $26.6 million in 2012 dollars. Former mayor Henry Dayday announces a bid for mayor focused on “extravagant spending” and pledges a referendum on the art gallery.
May 2012: The new gallery’s business plan categorically rejects admission fees, except for two special visiting exhibits each year. The operation of the new gallery will require $1.5 million each year from taxpayers, up from $2.5 million for the Mendel in 2012 to $4 million for 2015, then the expected opening year for the gallery. The budget would rise from $4.15 million in 2012 to $7 million in 2015 to $7.9 million in 2017 (when the city’s contribution would be $4.6 million). Free admission is “the foundation upon which the business plan is built,” board chair John Hampton says. City council approves the business plan with all councillors and the mayor speaking in favour. Council rejects a proposal from former mayor Henry Dayday to hold a referendum on the project.
August 2012: With an election looming, the gallery board announces the $20-million fundraising goal has been met. The project is slated to begin in early 2013 and be completed in early 2015.
September 2012: Philanthropist Ellen Remai announces the donation of a $20-million collection of 405 Picasso linocut prints to the gallery that will bear her name.
October 2012: Mayor Don Atchison scores a narrow victory over political newcomer Tom Wolf in an election campaign in which the gallery featured as a major issue. Former mayor Henry Dayday aborted his campaign before the vote. Fred Mendel’s grandson contributed to Wolf ’s campaign. Atchison also won in 2009 when his then-opponent Lenore Swystun criticized the lack of community consultation over the move to River Landing.
February 2013: The gallery board hires New Zealand native Gregory Burke as the new executive director and CEO after nearly a year with the position vacant.
March 2013: City council approves a $9.7-million increase in the project’s cost — “These numbers aren’t being hid or covered up,” Mayor Don Atchison says — and awards a $76.8-million contract to EllisDon. EllisDon’s bid came in lower than those of Graham Construction and PCL. The majority of the cost increase is from a $6.2-million hike in the cost of the parkade, which has risen to $19.5 million. The parkade is expected to pay for itself through parking revenues.
June 2013: Construction begins on the now $93.7-million gallery project at River Landing. The costs for the now $74.2-million gallery break down like this: City ($23.5 million), private fundraising ($21 million), province ($16.7 million) and federal government ($13 million). The gallery is now expected to open to the public by the spring of 2016.
April 2014: The formal name of the new gallery is revealed as the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, or Remai Modern for short.
January 2015: City councillors express concern about the gap between the closing of the Mendel, slated for June, and the opening of the Remai Modern, expected at the time to be about a year.
March 2015: In a complete reversal, admission fees are introduced in a new business plan — $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, plus $16 for special exhibitions ($14 for students and seniors). A divided council approves the new business plan, even though it calls for more employees (32 to 46) and fewer hours open per week (84 to 51). The cost of the gallery is now estimated at $99.7 million. The city’s subsidy is slated to rise
from $2.2 million in 2015 to $4.6 million in 2016 and $6.5 million by 2019. “I look forward to the opening in 2016,” Mayor Don Atchison says.
May 2015: Ellen Remai agrees to cover an additional $2 million in work on the Remai Modern. The total cost of the project has increased to $103.3 million. If land is included, the total price rises to $105,661,160. City manager Murray Totland warns council a “reset” may be needed to ensure the gallery meets its opening date of the Labour Day long weekend in 2016. For that to happen, construction would have to be completed three months earlier.
June 7, 2015: The Mendel Art Gallery closes for good after 51 years. The Children’s Discovery Museum is expected to take over the Mendel building in 2016 and open in 2017 after $10 million in renovations. The Remai Modern is now estimated at $106.3 million, including the land and parkade, and slated to open in the fall of 2016.
October 2015: A city report reveals the gallery will not open until early 2017 and the project is also expected to cost $3.5 million to $4.5 million more. The delays and increased costs are blamed on the need to correct drawings. Once construction on the gallery is substantially complete, it will take four to six months for the gallery to move in, the report says. Completion of construction is slated for the fall of 2016.
May 2016: The 130,000-sq.-ft. gallery is estimated to be 90 per cent complete. The project remains $2.5 million to $4.5 million over budget. The gallery is not expected to be fully functional until mid-2017, although the possibility of opening early in 2017 for some community programs is considered.
October 2016: Veteran councillor
Charlie Clark upsets incumbent Don Atchison to become Saskatoon’s next mayor. The gallery’s cost and delays feature prominently in the campaign, with challengers painting both Clark and Atchison as irresponsible guardians of the public purse.
November 2016: A city report says the gallery is 97 per cent complete.
December 2016: City councillors express skepticism about the gallery’s proposed budget for 2017, given its uncertain opening date. Council votes to trim the gallery’s proposed $5.19-million subsidy from the city in 2017 by $75,000. Under questioning, gallery executive director and CEO Gregory Burke says the gallery will open “mid-year.” A few days later, gallery board chair Alain Gaucher reveals it will take at least eight months after the building is 99 per cent complete for the facility to open. The eight-month gap means Saskatoon will be without a gallery for more than two years.
January 2017: The gallery board declines to set a new target for opening date after contractor EllisDon pushes back the date for substantial completion for the fifth time in seven months. The latest date for substantial completion is Feb. 27, which would mean an opening near the end of October under the board’s eight-month timeline. The board says it is committed to opening the gallery as soon as possible, regardless of the weather.
March 29, 2017: The city announces the project is substantially complete, two months after EllisDon said it had reached substantial completion.
June 2017: An opening date of Oct. 21 is announced. “This has been a long journey,” Mayor Charlie Clark says.
A great city deserves great art.