Saskatoon Construction II

[Echoes]

^ Unfortunately the guidelines in the Warehouse LAP are merely "suggestions" with no teeth to them.

It's likely that out of the City Centre Plan there will come a design review panel/approval process for the Downtown and possibly the BIDs so that we can finally start enforcing better design.

The Holiday Inn may be a tough lesson that turns out to be a blessing in disguise by finally motivating people and the City to start demanding better of our developers.

To the previous posters commenting that it's just a Holiday Inn and no one else was stepping up to develop the site - it's this complacency and the "any development is good development" attitude that does nothing to demand better of our developers. They set low standards because they get away with it.

Good design does not have to mean expensive. I know it's a Holiday Inn, and I'm overall pleased to see the investment downtown, but it would not have taken too much effort or money to improve how the building looks or interacts with the street.

When you build downtown, you're building in a district that reflects an image for the entire city. So prominent buildings like this should be designed with care and pride for the community they're a part of. And good design can go a long way in improving land values and returns on your investment - an incentive for developers to improve their product.