Council backs plan for arena downtown

Convention centre part of concept

Saskatoon city council endorsed starting to plan for a new downtown arena and convention centre and set itself to identifying the best spot for a district around the facility.

City manager Jeff Jorgenson said the decision, supported by council in a 10-1 vote on Tuesday, means the city will no longer focus on renovations to Saskatoon’s aging suburban arena, Sasktel Centre, or the downtown convention centre, TCU Place.

Instead, it focus on a combined facility or facilities downtown and establishing a district around the arena/convention centre, similar to Edmonton’s Ice District.

“I think it’s important for the citizens of Saskatoon to know that we’re not approving an arena today, we’re approving a process to look at an arena,” Coun. Bev Dubois said at Tuesday’s governance and priorities committee meeting.

Coun. Sarina Gersher alone voted against the plan, saying she’s heard concern from residents about the number of capital projects the city has taken on. Otherwise, councillors and the mayor spoke in favour of the strategy.

“We are going to see this accelerate, I predict, given the interest around the table,” Coun. Mairin Loewen said.

Several councillors stressed the downtown facilities represent a long-term plan and no decision on funding or a location is imminent. Jorgenson cautioned that even the timeline to identify a location is a long one.

“I don’t see that as weeks or even a few months,” he said. “That’s going to take some time.”

Sasktel Centre marked 30 years since its opening earlier this year, while TCU Place marked 50 years. The city-owned facilities commissioned a study that recommended new facilities over continued renovation.

“We’re not starting from scratch here,” Coun. Troy Davies said. Many other cities have replaced aging arenas, so Saskatoon can learn from them, he added.

Davies got support for several motions, including hearing back on a funding approach that would minimize the need to use property taxes to pay for the new facilities.

Loewen pointed out the Saskatoon Public Library is also considering a new central location. Coun. Darren Hill suggested the possibility of including the library in the facility.

“And who knows, if we plan well, we might even get a grocery store,” Coun. Cynthia Block quipped of a much-discussed missing downtown amenity.

Hill said he sees no need for a referendum on the plan, but added he thinks it could be a big issue in the next municipal election in 2020.

Coun. Ann Iwanchuk said she does not want the current council to go down in history as having failed to plan properly for replacement facilities.

Mayor Charlie Clark stressed that the City of Saskatoon needs to partner on any project.

“This is one part of a lot of strategic decisions we need to make,” he said. “There’s many unanswered questions. One of the biggest is how we’re going to pay for this.”

The consultants’ report released earlier this year suggested the cost of a combined facility would fall between $330 million and $375 million. That compares to an estimated $101 million to upgrade the existing facilities.

Randy Pshebylo, executive director of the Riversdale Business Improvement District, urged council to build the new facilities in Riversdale or as close as possible to the neighbourhood located west of downtown.