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City officials are asking council members to approve a plan to guide the next decade of development in Saskatoon’s downtown.
Council’s governance and priorities committee will meet Wednesday to discuss what’s referred to in city planning documents as the City Centre and District Plan.
The document seeks to replace a previous city centre plan from 2013. City staff note in their report that the strategy needs an update to reflect the effort to build a new downtown event and entertainment district (DEED).
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The DEED had its roots in a 2016 consultant’s report warning of the need to address the aging state of the city’s current arena and convention facilities. Council in 2018 directed city staff to look at building a replacement arena in the downtown.
Council recently endorsed a funding strategy for the DEED that would seek to use revenue sources other than property tax to raise about $1.2 billion to renovate and expand TCU Place, while building a new arena to replace SaskTel Centre.
Preliminary planning calls for these core facilities to be surrounded by improved public spaces, including plazas and parks.
The plan to be discussed Wednesday would wrap the work city staff will be doing on the DEED into a wider list of downtown-related projects, including the upcoming bus-rapid transit system, a new outdoor festival site and a national urban park being discussed in areas along the river currently managed by the Meewasin Valley Authority.
Should it get through committee and council approval processes this month, the new plan will not be binding on future councils. Rather, it would help guide many of the funding requests city staff bring forward for approval over the next decade.
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The report to the committee notes previous public engagement for the DEED was conducted in 2023, alongside putting together a group of Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers to consult on themes for the proposed new district and potential use of public spaces.
The public will have an opportunity to ask questions of city staff about the proposed new city centre and district plan at an open house scheduled later this month.
Council is expected to debate the plan one more time ahead of final approval at council’s regular business meeting in late September.
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