Sasktel Centre now obsolete, advocate argues
Sasktel Centre is outdated and needs replacing, but the debate over a new facility should focus on more than sports and entertainment, a U.S. arena advocate says.
Prof. Mark Rosentraub of the University of Michigan toured Saskatoon’s 30-year-old suburban arena Wednesday afternoon after arriving in the city.
Rosentraub, an advocate for arena districts who was involved in the process leading to a new arena in Edmonton, is speaking at TCU Place Thursday.
“It is a great building,” Rosentraub said of Sasktel Centre in an interview.
“It’s served its purpose, but it’s economically obsolete. Does that mean it has to be replaced tomorrow? No, but sooner rather than later.”
Sasktel Centre partnered with TCU Place to produce a study on the future of the city’s arena and convention centre. The study suggested both facilities need to be replaced and recommends downtown as the preferred location.
Rosentraub said the only way the huge public cost of new arenas can be justified is through its effect on the surrounding area.
“It’s never about the arena for the public sector, it’s about the neighbourhood,” he said.
Saskatoon’s arena report estimates the construction cost of a new downtown arena at between $172 million and $177 million. A combined arena and convention centre is estimated to cost between $330 million and $375 million.
Over the past two decades, cities have “perfected” building arenas where the economic activity they generate can be maximized, Rosentraub added.
Rosentraub is aware of critics who question the return on public investment in sport and entertainment facilities. He directs them to cities like Columbus, Ohio, San Diego, Calif., and Green Bay, Wis., and suggests they ask civic leaders if the investment has been worth it.
He said it does not matter that Saskatoon lacks a major professional sports team.
“Everything is different in scale, but the concept is still basically the same. Sports and entertainment are key factors that are components of the quality of life.”
Keeping millennials in a community is part of the goal behind the push for new facilities in better locations, Rosentraub said. The millennials are already here, he added.
“Saskatoon has a great advantage because it has a phenomenal university,” he said. “It’s all about the competition for human capital. It’s really not about sports. It’s not about entertainment.”
Rosentraub has authored five books on the subject of sports and entertainment facilities and their economic effect on cities.
His sold-out speech at TCU Place is sponsored by Downtown Saskatoon, the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, the North Saskatoon Business Association and Tourism Saskatoon. All four organizations have expressed support for a downtown arena.