Coun. Davies questions absence of DEED critics at city meeting

A Saskatoon city councillor is questioning the absence of those with concerns about the city’s transparency surrounding plans for the Downtown Event and Entertainment District (DEED) and its cost.

Ward 4 Coun. Troy Davies said one of the goals of council and administration during Wednesday’s Governance and Priorities Committee meeting was to ensure the public was aware of the DEED milestones and plans and had an opportunity to speak about them.

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“Anybody in the public who right now has concerns over lack of transparency or the city’s exact numbers that they used in 2024, or the timelines that have been presented or information that’s been sent out by city administration, this was their opportunity to come speak to it,” he said.

“I don’t see any speakers here.”

Dan Willems, the city’s technical services director, presented a new report outlining the history of the DEED, land acquisition and current costs.

“There have been nearly 50 public reports related to this project since April 2016,” Willems said.

The report presented to councillors included information on land acquisition costs in the downtown area, which are now estimated at nearly $60 million. Land purchases were funded through the city’s Property Realized Reserve.

“The reserve does not receive any funding directly from the property tax, such as annual contributions,” the report stated.

Willems also said administration continues to try to secure funding.

“The current status of the project is that it remains a priority initiative … The province has publicly announced the financial commitment to the project, and the city continues to focus on obtaining federal support,” he added.

The report also outlined the construction phases.

“The project is expected to be built in phases, with the first phase expected to be underground and public realm improvements, followed by TCU Place renovation/expansion, including construction of more than 500 underground parking stalls; followed at a later time by the construction of the event centre,” the report stated.

The project’s total cost remains at $1.22 billion.

Davies said he was “a little concerned” that no one took advantage of the opportunity to address councillors and administration about the report.

“Again, this is a great opportunity to do so in a public setting where we can clear up some misinformation, whether it’s on our end or that’s being put out there by different organizations,” he added.

Former SaskPlace CEO Ken Wood, who is leading efforts to gather 30,000 signatures by mid-December in support of a referendum on the DEED arena, said he was busy with the campaign.

“We are very concerned with Troy Davies and administration using 2024 figures,” he said in a telephone interview.

When asked how many signatures had been collected so far, Wood declined to provide a specific number, saying only that the total was in the “thousands” and the campaign was “on target.” (Roman Hayter/650 CKOM/file photo)

“If you actually delve into the details of the BTY consultant’s report, there are escalated figures available there to project out what the cost would be as the project was built over time,” he said.

Wood maintained the figure is closer to $1.35 billion.

When asked how many signatures had been collected so far, Wood declined to provide a specific number, saying only that the total was in the “thousands” and the campaign was “on target.”

Mayor Cynthia Block said a citywide referendum could cost about $1 million and that neither she nor council was preparing for one at this time.

Instead, she said she was focused on securing federal funding for the DEED.