The next round of public engagement is underway regarding the Saskatoon Downtown Event and Entertainment District.
Surveys run from April 27 to May 18, and Global News went through the online questionnaire on the city’s website to get a handle on what was in the survey.
The 25-question online survey is left mostly open-ended for input by asking questions like, “What do you like about our current downtown?” and “What should we consider when designing the new event/centre and a new or expanded convention centre (TCU Place)?”
Each section that invites written input doesn’t seem to have a character limit on how much you can type.
The survey asks some general questions about the survey participants to get a scope of the demographic, and it also asks some questions about the overall survey experience.
The final question leaves it open-ended for any additional comments participants may have.
The city is offering pop-up public engagement events across the city where workbooks are being made available that ask many of the same questions in the online survey:
- Wednesday, May 3, 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m., Alice Turner Library
- Thursday May 4, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
- Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
- Monday, May 8, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
- Monday, May 8, 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Cliff Wright Library
- Thursday, May 11, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
- Friday, May, 12, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Confederation Mall
- Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
- Monday, May 15, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
- Thursday, May 18, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Midtown Shopping Centre
Once the city wraps up this round of engagement, initial designs for the event centre will be presented in July 2023.
Public feedback on the initial designs will be asked for during the summer and into the fall, and a review of the draft designs following after.
It’s noted that feedback on those designs will be presented in the Decision Report, and a recommendation will be put forth in November that could be accepted, another option selected, additional information requested, or a decision to not proceed at that time, with further reports and engagement planned for 2024.