FARMERS’ MARKET
City eyes new tenant
The City of Saskatoon hopes to have a deal in place to fill the vacant farmers’ market building sometime this spring, but the facility won’t reopen until summer at the earliest after it became clear that repairing the roof will take longer than expected.
In the meantime, the city has approved a request from the outdoor market organization Street Stall Saturdays to expand from Sonnenschein Way into the market square on the building’s east side this summer, a stopgap until a permanent tenant is in place.
Lesley Anderson, the city’s director of planning and development, declined to say how many organizations responded to the request for proposals for a permanent tenant issued last year, or provide any information about the preferred candidate.
Anderson said the aim remains to “animate” the site six days per week. The Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Co-operative Ltd., which has since relocated to the north industrial area, ran its market on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. That requirement, which Anderson characterized as part of the long-term vision for the site, was central to the impasse between the co-operative and the city as the end of its lease, which cost $10 per year plus taxes and utilities, approached.
“We’re looking for a variety of uses, a variety of things that will draw people to that location for six days a week,” Anderson said of the plan, adding that while no exact timeline is in place, the city wants a deal done “as soon as possible.”
A similar request for a permanent tenant was cancelled early last year after the city discovered the building’s roof required “significant repairs” due to water damage. At the time, the city said the repairs were expected to be complete in “early 2020.”
That work is now expected to take place in May and June. Anderson attributed the delay to further inspections revealing even more damage, and the need to replace the “entire roof system.” Citing contract talks, the city declined to reveal the estimated cost of the repairs.
“As we started digging in, we found more damage,” Anderson said.
Riversdale Business Improvement District executive director Randy Pshebylo expressed disappointment at being kept out of the loop by city hall, saying that was not the case when the original plan for the complex was developed in 2006. “It would have been nice to have been included,” said Pshebylo, whose recent request for information about the state of the project for his board of directors resulted in him being directed to a post on the city’s website.
Anderson noted city council voted in 2008 to make River Landing its own corporate entity, removing it from the jurisdiction of multiple business improvement districts, meaning the Riversdale BID has “no formal role” in its operations.