Saskatoon downtown arena talks continue, technical advisor acquired | 24CA News
Arena talks in downtown Saskatoon proceed to escalate with the addition of a technical advisor for the undertaking.
Stantec has been tapped by town to supervise the potential ice district, which might change the panorama of downtown.
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The engineering consulting agency has been introduced in to check the impact an enviornment would have on town.
“Part of our study with the city of Saskatoon is to be able to look at the trajectory of the downtown, and look at what are the best practices that might be brought to bear on the downtown to make sure the downtown is set up for success tomorrow,” stated Simon O’Byrne, the senior vice-president of Stantec.
O’Byrne was available this previous week to have interaction with Saskatoon residents and reply questions concerning the improvement course of.
He stated a few of the key points he heard from residents have been associated to site visitors and parking points, similar to what the agency noticed when it was introduced in for Edmonton’s Ice District.
“What we found is that all those kinds of anxieties and fears we had about downtown parking and transportation was really (not much) of a worry,” he defined.
O’Byrne stated Edmonton’s downtown was meant to deal with massive volumes of individuals working and occasions normally occur when the business crowd has largely left the world.
Stantec’s examine will assess the evolution of downtown Saskatoon, with a deal with city vibrancy and financial funding.
On high of the stadium, O’Byrne talked about the Remai Modern Art Gallery, heritage buildings and the long run Bus Rapid Transit system as methods to convey folks to the downtown core.
“The city has a whole bunch of tools at its disposal, and so what the city has to do — and this isn’t just Saskatoon, but all cities — need to leverage all the tools at its disposal to figure out how we create vibrancy in our downtown,” O’Byrne stated.
For councillor Cynthia Block, she holds an identical sentiment as O’Byrne.
“The district will broaden the perspective of downtown development,” Block stated. “It will be a destination for our city, our province and beyond. It is also a strategic plan to drive density to the core and help Saskatoon become a more efficient city.”
O’Byrne additionally says congestion downtown could also be an indication of success quite than failure.
He believes congestion means extra folks on sidewalks, which implies extra folks downtown for business and buying. O’Bryne argues extra folks also can result in a deal with public security.
For O’Byrne, the undertaking just isn’t a couple of downtown enviornment however what town desires for its development.
“Saskatoon really is a story that’s still being written,” he stated. “I get to see a lot of parts of North America through my job and even Europe, I really am excited about the trajectory that Saskatchewan’s on.”
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