Thirty-five years ago, Saskatoon celebrated the opening of a new arena on city’s northern outskirts.
The anniversary of the opening of Saskatchewan Place is coinciding with the city choosing Stantec to help guide the city through the planning and design of a new downtown arena and entertainment district.
The firm has worked on similar projects including Edmonton’s Rogers Place and the Seattle Convention Centre.
“Stantec has put together a highly experienced team of experts for this project,” said Dan Willems, the city’s director of technical services.
“When it comes to developing event centres and convention centres, our technical advisors bring international expertise to the project. This, combined with the ability to leverage Saskatoon-specific knowledge through City Council, the district advisory group, and local stakeholders and rightsholders, gives us confidence we will have a successful project.”
The next step in the project happens on Valentine’s Day when a draft plan for the entertainment district will be presented to the Governance and Priorities Committee.
Once finalized, the city says the plan will provide a vision and guiding principles for the future district.
Meanwhile, the city said it continues to develop funding strategies with the goal of funding the project with little or no additional increases to property taxes.
Conceptual designs are expected to being this month.