The Saskatoon downtown event district approval that was planned for the end of 2023, probably won’t be happening until spring 2024.
City administration is aiming to ask city council to approve a funding strategy late this year.
A city committee meeting on Tuesday took a look at the five-year history of the planning process for the centre.
“We’re still not at that point where it is a ‘go’ or ‘no go’ with a complete financial plan and key partners on that,” said Ward 4 councillor Troy Davies.
As of now, the land has been purchased, but the committee is still trying to nail down some key stakeholders before the decision is up for consideration.
They said they are currently working to set up a private partner to secure funding for the project.
“That’s something we need to have to even make this a viable project,” Davies said.
Moving forward, the committee plans to engage with the public and address any unreliable rumours heard in Saskatoon about the project.
“Skepticism is a good thing because that makes us make sure we go through all the steps to make sure we have those answers for those people and at the end of the day it comes down to whether we agree or disagree on moving forward or not,” said Davies. “We definitely aren’t there yet, but once it comes time to make that decision, we will have all the information we need.”
Davies added that the committee has asked the province to be part of the final decision as well.
The goal is still for the downtown district to come at no cost to Saskatoon residents.
“There’s misinformation out there that this is a done deal and it’s going to be on taxpayers’ backs and that’s just not the case,” said Davies.
The final product is still six to eight years away.
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