Representatives of TCU Place and the Sasktel Centre are encouraging Saskatoon City Council to continue with proposals for the development of a Downtown Entertainment and Event district.
Tammy Sweeney, CEO of TCU says pre-COVID the event centre provided around $100-million in GDP and approximately 1000 jobs per year. Sweeney adds that contribution is at risk without movement to revitalize the facility. “We will see potentially reduced economic impacts and activity in Saskatoon, in the long term, as other events move to facilities with more desired amenities. Competition for events and facility will be fierce from 2022 to 2027, in the post COVID recovery and we will unfortunately dropped further on the list of desirable venues.” Sweeney says demands for a better and stronger facility has already lead to TCU Place losing potential events because of the age of the existing space.
Sweeney suggests COVID-19 has forced some changes that would have happened anyway, believing going forward there will be a greater connection between venues and locations in an online way. She says this could increase TCU Place’s exposure on a Global stage, increasing the need for advancement and change at the venue.
Will Lofdahl of the Sask Place Association, responsible for the management of Sasktel Centre, says the entertainment and convention businesses are set to return strong. He says he realizes the prospect of a downtown entertainment district is daunting but the prospect of not going forward with such a project poses an even bigger risk. Lofdahl encouraged city council to proceed with the planning of the eventual unveiling of a downtown entertainment district.
Support to begin planning of the district also came from Keith Moen of the North Saskatoon Business Association, Jason Aebig of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and Brent Penner of the Downtown Saskatoon Business Improvement District.
Tourism Saskatoon Wants to See Collaboration and Funding Considerations
Tourism Saskatoon is urging city council to kick start the planning of a Downtown Entertainment District.
Clovechok suggests there are a multitude of alternative funding options, including revenue opportunities that already exist through the hospitality sector. She says Tourism Saskatoon is in favour of providing some level of revenue contributions, under current destination modeling programs, that would support the development of Downtown Entertainment District infrastructure.
Next Steps for the Downtown Entertainment District and Arena
Saskatoon City Council will review a number of motions later this month, with the goal of developing a Downtown Entertainment District and Arena.
Monday’s Governance and Priorities Committee Meeting forwarded motions to council that included city administration being directed to work with stakeholders and other levels of government to achieve a funding plan. This will include investigating all funding opportunities on potential bonds for an arena. Councillor Troy Davies says the goal of the motion is to achieve funding with no contributions from property taxes. If motions pass, city administration will alos look into the necessary transit and parking improvements needed, report on a public process map outlining key milestones for the planning of the district and provide detailed analysis of industry forecasts related to tourism events that would be relevant to planning the district and bus rapid transit.
Mayor Charlie Clark also brought forward a motion for the incorporation of Indigenous placemaking and partnerships in the development of the district, along with investigating any carbon neutrality opportunities.
