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Saskatoon council defers decision on arena private partnership agreement framework

A design concept for the Saskatoon's downtown arena and event district project. Courtesy of City of Saskatoon

Saskatoon city council is getting more details about the tentative deal with the potential operator of a future downtown arena district, but it’s no closer to a final resolution.

The city announced a framework with the facility management company OVG360 earlier this month. It includes an upfront capital contribution of $20 million.

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OVG would be the operator for 25 years starting from the completion of the arena.

The city says annual projections over that time show $170 million in total cash flow to the city from the partnership, and officials say those projections are on the conservative side.

“We want to be cautiously optimistic, not be overly optimistic in what we’re using when we’re talking about relying on revenues to help support our debt servicing,” said city technical services director Dan Willems.

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Administration emphasized that approving this framework does not give the entire project the green light.

Council is deferring a decision on the framework until they are able to hear from OVG itself.

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