City Administration recommends Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot for future event centre/arena
City Council is set to consider the Administration’s recommendation that the future Downtown event centre/arena be located on the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot, north of 22nd Street between 1st Avenue and Pacific Avenue. The recommendation will be discussed at a Special Meeting of Council, Wednesday, November 16, 2022.
The Administration’s analysis identified two feasible site options for the future Downtown event centre/arena: the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot and the North Downtown/City Yards. City Council further directed Administration to proceed with public engagement on both sites.
The site recommendation is based, in part, on an evaluation of the sites against extensive technical criteria. Based on this evaluation, the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot site emerged with the highest score, ranking favourably in nearly every category.
Also supporting this recommendation are the survey results where respondents identified key opportunities with the Midtown site to be its proximity to amenities, its ease of access due to its central location and the potential for increased activities in the Downtown.
Despite these key opportunities, the survey results also identified some key challenges; most notably, parking availability and traffic congestion. The Administration believes the parking challenge can be mitigated at the proposed site by clearly identifying the current inventory of existing off-street paid parking, private stalls that could be converted, and off-street paid parking stalls within walking distance. More specifically, as part of the project, Administration intends to replace the 526 stalls currently in the north parking lot and may be augmented with construction of additional parking following a parking needs assessment.
In terms of traffic congestion, the future Bus Rapid Transit routes will connect the District to the entire city, efficiently moving a large number of people in and out of the area, thereby providing alternative transportation options and reducing or minimizing the perceived challenge of traffic congestion.
The Administration also consulted with the Downtown Event and Entertainment District Advisory Group, which was established and appointed by City Council, on the site options. The Advisory Group supports the Administration’s recommendation of the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot.
The public engagement occurred between August 30 and October 3, 2022, several options for feedback were available to the public. This included a representative sample survey, an opt-in online public survey, an online survey for local business and organizations, and in-person intercept surveys.
The survey results have been consolidated and shared with City Council for their deliberations on the site of the Downtown event centre/arena, and the development of the Downtown Event and Entertainment District. In addition, future stages of the project will be informed by the feedback from this process.
The City appreciates and thanks the over 8,300 people and stakeholders who participated in the open survey and shared their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of each site. The survey results are available on saskatoon.ca/engage for all respondents and the general public. The agenda and corresponding reports can be found on the City’s website.
For more information visit saskatoon.ca/eventdistrict.