Saskatoon Construction III

[YXE]

Originally Posted by prairieguy

what indication is there that ANYTHING is happening at WTC site? my guess this will be another stalled project...we need our economy to pick up big time, as we (Saskatchewan) has not rebounded like most of the rest of the country in terms of job growth, real estate, provincial gdp, etc.

I DO think it will come, but for some reason we are lagging behind. However, that also creates the opportunity to build at a lower cost and be ready with "product" when economy does improve again.

I agree with your last point there; however, I don't think firms like North Prairie have the capital necessary to take a risk like that (i.e. given their size, they won't be willing to put up that kind of money given the risk). We need more companies like Urban Capital, who are larger and come from larger centers, to come and build while it is cheaper.

[Geebrr]

[QUOTE=Stormer;8290945]

Originally Posted by roryn1

Plus MB has higher income tax rates and a higher PST. Therefore the difference is even more pronounced when you look at disposable income. Retailers and restaurants should be looking at SK first unless they need a huge metro area like Winnipeg to justify their existence. Even Ikea will be coming to Saskatoon based on their current model for expansion in Canada.

Yeah, that is not how it works.

More goes into market viability than a small Canadian market having a slightly higher amount of disposable income.

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by Geebrr

Yeah, that is not how it works.

More goes into market viability than a small Canadian market having a slightly higher amount of disposable income.

Exactly. So based on Stormers logic, retail outlets should be flocking to Saskatchewan well before BC due to their "substantially" larger average annual income.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Pinus

Exactly. So based on Stormers logic, retail outlets should be flocking to Saskatchewan well before BC due to their "substantially" larger average annual income.

Obviously this would not apply to many retailers and restaurant chains, but if one were to analyse whether to put your next 6 stores in Regina and Saskatoon or in Winnipeg, you might choose the former, unless you were more concerned with logistics than sales.

[Echoes]

Collaborative Sciences Research Building, U of S


IMG_6921 by Echoes Saskatoon, on Flickr


IMG_6923 by Echoes Saskatoon, on Flickr

[roryn1]

[QUOTE=Geebrr;8296795]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Yeah, that is not how it works.

More goes into market viability than a small Canadian market having a slightly higher amount of disposable income.

Well I think two great new examples would be Cactus Club which has some of the highest sales of all their Canadians locations and is one of the most prominent chains currently in Canada. Another great example is Michael Kors which only opened in midtown because Victoria’s Secret came here. They were fearful of the market here because of the lack of Coach, and other similar retailers.. so in their cases it has worked great, and will work great once all these other laggards like Zara, Coach, Joey & Earls, and all other restaurants like so get their market research in gear and come saturate our market just like they have in other larger centers with lower disposable income.

Last January I tried to invite some execs from Toronto to an event I was holding here from a large institution. They wouldn’t come because “it’s probably hard to invite people to Cold Saskatoon in January” and that shocked me as I’ve turned down offers in toronto mainly because their weather is aweful haha. The majority of these people treat Saskatoon like it is Yellowknife (no offense Yellowknife), and there is definitely a “stuck up” attitude when looking at smaller more remote centers. It’s definitely getting better in Saskatoon but there’s a lot of work to entice these people to think positively of Saskatoon!

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Collaborative Sciences Research Building, U of S

Thanks for posting those, Echoes, The U of S continues to produce what are, in my opinion, great looking buildings. As an owner (through my tax dollars), I don't begrudge the U of S paying a premium to deliver good looking, high quality buildings that will provide years of service instead of being torn down and re-built every generation.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Crisis

Thanks for posting those, Echoes, The U of S continues to produce what are, in my opinion, great looking buildings. As an owner (through my tax dollars), I don't begrudge the U of S paying a premium to deliver good looking, high quality buildings that will provide years of service instead of being torn down and re-built every generation.

Same here. When I went through campus last night I was admiring the legacy of great buildings there. The Spinks Addition next door is about 15 years old and looking great.

However, in future I wouldn't mind if the university pursued some high quality modern architecture. There are numerous campuses around the world that feature a complementary mix of contemporary and traditional design. The U of S plays it safer with these sorts of hybrid designs for new builds, which has worked out well, but I wouldn't mind some cutting edge stuff.

[mitchellk12]

any details on the apt tower on main/broadway that baydo developments is proposing? the lot has been empty for some time now

[Echoes]

In other news, O'Brians Event Centre will now be the Coors Event Centre. Apparently an exterior renovation is planned along with the new signage. Hoping for something tasteful, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Drizzle]

Interesting photos showing the inside of the old Egadz building, and some foundation work on the Tees & Persse building via Kent Sutherland and Strata on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/sutherland_kent/
https://www.instagram.com/stratadevelopment/

[Echoes]

Progress at River Quarry:

[Ricopedra]

edit

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

^^I'm soooo glad this commie block is disappearing, hopefully along with the attitudes of the times. I bet no-one associated with this bunker on either side of the law has any fond memories of it, just from what I've heard:>)

NTL, the city should still pick it up as the new locale for the Central Library. (Why does nobody support this idea?) They obviously missed their first chance when they owned it, but maybe they could buy it back once the shell is done and move in; or why not rent it? It's got underground parking!
The surface lot to the left still belongs to the developers of course...22 stories more coming soon!>)
In any case, all the best to the developer. We need more companies like this.

But then that just leaves their current space deserted? And I walk by it everyday and never see many people in it... I just don’t understand the public library concept anymore when we all have the internet now. That area around the library is rough - I walk by it every day but try to avoid walking in front as I get harassed there a lot and I’ve seen bikes getting stolen out from with large metal clippers. I’d rather not leave it completely vacant as that’d make it more of a rough hangout spot maybe. If the goal of the library is to give poverished people access to information I’d rather see the city and province team up on a free data and e-reader plan for people making less than $10K a year instead of a brick and mortar fancy glass building. The library even uploads books on to e readers now - no need to do any of this in person. Growing up I remember going for story telling sessions as my local library but kids have more access to information than ever and every school has a library. I think this concept for a massive and new public library needs to be squashed - as much as I’d love to see a fancy new government funded building be built to beautify our downtown there are higher priorities to fix the crime issue. Two people have been murdered on my street downtown this year - way larger issues at present.

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by roryn1

But then that just leaves their current space deserted? And I walk by it everyday and never see many people in it... I just don’t understand the public library concept anymore when we all have the internet now. That area around the library is rough - I walk by it every day but try to avoid walking in front as I get harassed there a lot and I’ve seen bikes getting stolen out from with large metal clippers. I’d rather not leave it completely vacant as that’d make it more of a rough hangout spot maybe. If the goal of the library is to give poverished people access to information I’d rather see the city and province team up on a free data and e-reader plan for people making less than $10K a year instead of a brick and mortar fancy glass building. The library even uploads books on to e readers now - no need to do any of this in person. Growing up I remember going for story telling sessions as my local library but kids have more access to information than ever and every school has a library. I think this concept for a massive and new public library needs to be squashed - as much as I’d love to see a fancy new government funded building be built to beautify our downtown there are higher priorities to fix the crime issue. Two people have been murdered on my street downtown this year - way larger issues at present.

I don't think you quite understand the importance of libraries. Not everyone enjoys reading on electronic devices (I myself, a 34-year old software developer, prefer paper for anything that takes longer than 15 mins to read). Not everyone has access to the internet, computers, smartphones, tablets or e-readers. Libraries provide a way for everyone to access digital content. They also provide various courses for the public. The Regina Central library offers courses for ESL and computer basics, for example. Public libraries are an essential function of an educated society. They always have and they always will. Your complaints have more to do with the location I think than the actual effectiveness of libraries in general.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by roryn1

But then that just leaves their current space deserted? And I walk by it everyday and never see many people in it... I just don’t understand the public library concept anymore when we all have the internet now. That area around the library is rough - I walk by it every day but try to avoid walking in front as I get harassed there a lot and I’ve seen bikes getting stolen out from with large metal clippers. I’d rather not leave it completely vacant as that’d make it more of a rough hangout spot maybe. If the goal of the library is to give poverished people access to information I’d rather see the city and province team up on a free data and e-reader plan for people making less than $10K a year instead of a brick and mortar fancy glass building. The library even uploads books on to e readers now - no need to do any of this in person. Growing up I remember going for story telling sessions as my local library but kids have more access to information than ever and every school has a library. I think this concept for a massive and new public library needs to be squashed - as much as I’d love to see a fancy new government funded building be built to beautify our downtown there are higher priorities to fix the crime issue. Two people have been murdered on my street downtown this year - way larger issues at present.

Yet in-person use of our libraries is holding steady and growing. Why abandon these public spaces just because technology allows us to? We can't give people more reason to retreat into the personal cocoons that mobile technology has allowed for and not have us interacting with each other.

I know it's cited ad nauseam, but the Halifax Central Library is a great model for what a library can be -- a community focal point and gathering place that is much more than just a place for books. I daresay that in the interest of addressing crime or perceptions of safety in our Downtown, a new library can help drive more foot traffic and positive activity.

What if a new library became a more regularly used "third place" in our community? Halifax shows it can work. It can also assist in the reshaping of Downtown as a more complete neighbourhood that is an attractive place to live.

As for cost and spending priorities, yeah, people have opinions on that. But the library has been citing overcrowding at its central branch for years (even decades?). They've also been dutifully socking away money for years into a reserve that has grown into a bit of seed funding for a new branch. We funded the Remai. It seems many wouldn't flinch at funding a new arena. The library deserves due consideration too.

To Ricopedra's point about using the old police station, in my opinion a new library needs to be designed from the ground up if it's to fulfill its potential as a renewed community focal point, otherwise we're shortchanging its chance at success. Leasing a retrofitted office building won't suffice.

[roryn1]

I’m just trying to wrap my head around what a new library would offer that other centers already do...

-all news and reading is done 99% on the phone nowadays
-Books can still be “rented” on a kobo still
-we have a University 5 minutes away from the central library that offers countless options for space that would love the extra revenue or a government grant. (Ex. Gordon Oaks center that just opened and I still see rarely used)

The halifax’s 60 Million dollar library’s states they also have a cafe in it, rooms for meetings, etc.. I just can’t wrap my head around it being a cool place to “hang out” for 60 million when those dollars could be a lot more well spent not crowding out our crime issues in the city but actually utilizing a direct program that brings people out of poverty.

I put on an event in Vancouver at the Morris J Wosk Center for Dialogur which is a UN Style event center the U of S does not offer. This new facility had to be unique to actually draw people in since the library is not a modern day feature that offsets $60M. Maybe since library’s aren’t focusing on books anymore, this could be a partnership with the U of S. Also a good thing to note is that Edwards’ MBA program is no longer offered downtown to my knowledge - they’ve spent more renovating their campus building.

http://www.sfu.ca/dialogue.html

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by roryn1

-all news and reading is done 99% on the phone nowadays

No, they are not. Not even close. You might want to get out of your bubble.

Originally Posted by roryn1

Books can still be “rented” on a kobo still

To suggest someone has to have an e-reader to access books is asinine. I have a Kindle and only use it when it is not practical to have a physical book. You also seem to forget that there's a large segment of the population who can't afford the things that you obviously take for granted.

Originally Posted by roryn1

-we have a University 5 minutes away from the central library that offers countless options for space that would love the extra revenue or a government grant. (Ex. Gordon Oaks center that just opened and I still see rarely used)

Universities are for higher learning. To suggest impoverished teens, for example, should go to the university to access the resources they previously did at the public library is ridiculous. I went to university and it was intimidating enough for myself. I don't think universities want to just open the doors to the public when they are already underfunded.

I hate to be snarky but you come across as extremely ignorant, especially when two posters already addressed the above points of yours.

[Echoes]

Hard copy circulation isn't collapsing at SPL, digital growth is just exploding alongside it. I think it smacks of elitism to assume that everyone can access the internet from their own home computer, or check out e-books on their own reader. Not everyone has those things, so the brick and mortar library remains essential to providing open and equal access to information for everyone. Some interesting stats from SPL show continued growth in use of their digital services offered in their libraries: http://splcommunityreport.ca/

I also don't think we should assume that because the option exists to rent books on an e-reader, that people will necessarily want to do that even if they have the option. Count me as a person who prefers the tactile experience of holding a book and turning the pages to holding an e-reader any day. I also think e-book use will plateau (if it hasn't already?) and an equilibrium between their use and the tried and true pleasure of a physical book will prevail going forward.

For those interested, https://saskatooncentrallibrary.ca/ has some great discussion about the role of modern libraries. There's also a report on the results of the public consultation undertaken around what people want in a new central library here. The world is not retreating from funding and growing their library systems. Why would we?

At its root, the public library is an egalitarian idea about providing open and equal access to information for everyone. It's a foundational public institution in a democratic society. That, to me, is a more important consideration than making it a cool place to hang out in. Although we should try to do that too to bring more people into the fold and grow the role of the library as a gathering place as I am advocating.

[WoodlandCritter]

I am big into books myself, I prefer reading paper versus on a screen. But everyone is different I understand. I think the traditional library archetype still has its place, but built space for new tech, gathering spaces and expanded way of learning is a better way to get people engaged. I also believe architecture has a HUGE influence on a space like that, and it should be a place people want to spend time. The current main branch library downtown is not architecturally welcoming imo. A new building would go a long way.


I lived in Cambridge, Ont for many years, they just finished this new library model this summer:

https://cbridge.ca/a-sneak-peek-insi...d-post-office/

There is also this beautiful library in town that I visited a few times. They built the new structure around the original brick library, enclosing it inside.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C...Public_Library