The provincial government has scarcely acknowledged plans for a new downtown Saskatoon arena district, unlike Regina’s stadium project.
Twelve years ago this Sunday, Saskatchewan’s premier and Regina’s mayor appeared on the field of the old Mosaic Stadium to announce a joint project to build its replacement.
The announcement took place in front of more than 32,000 fans before the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the visiting British Columbia Lions.
Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government would pony up the most money up front, $80 million; the city would contribute $73 million, including land. The province would also furnish the new facility with a $100-million loan.
Wall, who had long signalled provincial support for the project, explained the rationale for the funding assistance on what he surely knew would be a controversial project for many.
“If we are going to build a stadium … only when all the roads are paved, only when every health-care capital need is taken care of, only when every school is built, they will never be built,” Wall said. “That’s part of the quality of life that we want in the province.”
Wall’s government embraced the city hall-province partnership to build the new stadium, since it would be used by people from throughout the province, even though it would be located in Regina.
So it’s puzzling just how completely absent the current provincial government, under Premier Scott Moe, has been in the contentious conversation about a new downtown arena in Saskatoon.
There’s been no public pronouncements about a partnership, no sense of collaboration. One wonders sometimes if the provincial government is even aware of the city’s plans for a new downtown arena district.
Like Mosaic Stadium, Saskatoon’s current arena, SaskTel Centre, caters to many people from elsewhere in Saskatchewan. The facility was originally called Saskatchewan Place when it opened 36 years ago.
Moe’s answer came two years after Saskatoon city hall had rejected further investment in upgrading remote SaskTel Centre in favour of exploring the possibility of a new downtown arena that would be better situated to attract investment.
Moe himself said then that the province wanted to support projects that increase the quality of life in communities, pointing to funding for Mosaic Stadium and Mosaic Place arena in Moose Jaw.
Since then, Saskatoon city council has engaged in a sometimes strained effort to choose a location for the new facility. Now that the location is settled on a parking lot north of Midtown Plaza, a funding strategy is expected this month.
Perhaps the province is waiting until closer to this fall’s election to make some sort of commitment. Or perhaps an announcement could happen in conjunction with the release of the city hall funding plan.
Or maybe the increasingly ideological Moe and his government simply want to deprive the outgoing left-leaning Clark and Saskatoon city council of a departing victory.
Regardless, the provincial government’s utter indifference to a major infrastructure project in Saskatchewan’s largest city looks like another Saskatoon snub.
Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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