Murray Wood: 'One of the worst' should be on hats and T-shirts in Canada
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Saskatoon’s Downtown Event and Entertainment District (DEED) continues to draw debate and discussion from residents in the city as a petition circulates in support of a referendum on the project.
Former SaskPlace CEO Ken Wood is currently leading efforts to gather 30,000 signatures by mid-December in support of the referendum.
Read more:
- Saskatoon downtown arena referendum could cost $1 million: Mayor
- Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block on DEED, University Bridge and CCMAs
- Former Saskatoon arena CEO calls for democratic voices in Downtown Event and Entertainment District plans
On Thursday, SaskTel Centre CEO John Howden and Ward 4 City Coun. Troy Davies, who is also a city council board representative for SaskTel Centre and co-chair for the DEED advisory group, joined The Evan Bray Show to address some of the concerns still being voiced about the new downtown district and arena, and to clarify what they say are incorrect figures and information being shared about the project.
Listen to the full interview:
Davies said he raised the issue of disputed figures being circulated about the DEED at last week’s city council meeting.
“What concerns me, and what concerns a lot that are on council right now, is the inaccurate information that’s being spread throughout the community… specifically on the petition that’s being put forward by a group of individuals,” Davies said.
The group behind the petition lists the project’s cost on its website at approximately $1.6 billion.
The city dismissed the inflated cost in a statement to 650 CKOM, pointing to the estimate provided by Vancouver-based BTY Group.
“BTY estimated a total project cost of approximately $1.2 billion in 2024 dollars and approximately $1.33 billion when BTY’s own escalation allowances are applied based on an assumed construction start date. Any claim that the project cost is $1.6 billion relies on assumptions and costs beyond those identified in the BTY report.”
Davies said he has no objections to referendums and people signing petitions in order to have their perspective considered. But, he said, he wanted to clarify the numbers.
“I’ve got some concerned residents that have had people come to their doors saying that people are saying it’s a $1.6 billion arena,” Davies said. “Everybody’s confused, so I wanted some clarity just exactly on where the numbers were in 2024 when this came to council.”
Davies said the arena was budgeted at $632.1 million in 2024, and said the petition does not include renovations that would be made to TCU Place as part of the DEED project.
“When you’re saying you’re against DEED, but you’re not against TCU Place, that’s inaccurate because TCU Place was priced at about $221 million for the renovation, which also includes another $52 million on the Sid Buckwold Theatre that’s inside,” Davies said.
Davies said the arena’s projected cost has “definitely grown” in the past two years.
“I’m not shy about saying that,” he shared.
Davies added that the 2024 figures were calculated by experts and consultants who have been part of building similar facilities elsewhere, and were not budgeted by city staff.
Davies said three motions will return to council. One relates to the urban reserve design because, he said, misinformation and inaccuracies about the project continue to circulate.
The current pricing for the new arena is also expected to be reported back to council, as well as the cost for renovations to the SaskTel Centre.
Aging infrastructure, costly choices
When asked about the state of the arena, Howden said the building and structure is “a concrete shell – it’ll last forever.”
Howden said the issue is whether the existing building can serve the needs of the fans, tours and acts who use it.
“We’re starting to fail on the requirements and needs of both those groups,” Howden shared.
He said the infrastructure of the building is old, with original cooling pipes that are three years beyond their life expectancy, the original HVAC system (which would cost $20 million to replace, according to Howden), as well as original roof membranes, pipes and electrical work.
“At some point, we either have to do something as far as the DEED and get that going, or put a bunch of money into infrastructure pieces of the building that actually don’t improve the fan amenity or the amenities for the tours at all,” Howden said.
He said if the city doesn’t proceed with the DEED project, it would still face the expenses of bringing the SaskTel Centre back up to the industry standard, though even that would still fall short of attracting certain acts and entertainers to the city.
Petition group pleased with progress
Ken Wood said on The Evan Bray Show on Monday that the group is currently ahead of schedule.
“We’ve got over 100 volunteers that have been out there knocking on doors and working at pop-ups.”
“Our progress is good. We are slightly ahead of our two-week goal, so we’re happy with that,” he said.
The group must collect the required number of signatures by Dec. 10 to trigger a possible referendum.
Such a vote, Mayor Cynthia Block has said, could cost taxpayers $1 million.
—with files from Roman Hayter
