Saskatoon Construction II

[bastinado]

Originally Posted by Jimmy James

It was actually located north of the Quality Inn where Fronteir Peterbuilt is now.

The waterslides at North Battleford have also been gone for some time. I think the last outdoor waterslide park in the province was the small one in east Regina, which closed about 10 years ago.

I am pretty sure the ones in Kenosee are still going.

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by bastinado

I am pretty sure the ones in Kenosee are still going.

man, that takes me back. isn't one of their slides the longest waterslide drop in Canada or something? I remember hearing one chick sliced her hand up very badly by sticking it out of the slide and under curved part of it.

[Echoes]

I was driving down Queen Street the other day and noticed a billboard with rendering up on some vacant lots at the corner of Queen and 3rd for an office/medical building.

Found the listing for it:



http://www.rexsaskatoon.com/listings_view_map.aspx#

If done well, a building of this size and scale could be a nice addition to Queen Street.

[Jerry]

The downtown skyscraper that never was
Cameco shelved plan five years ago
By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix July 17, 2012

Saskatoon's downtown skyline would look markedly different if an office tower built for Cameco Corp. in the heart of the city centre got off the ground five years ago.

Images of the 25-storey skyscraper on 21st Street across from the Delta Bessborough hotel between Spadina Crescent and Fourth Avenue prominently featuring the Cameco logo surfaced this month on a construction and development forum online.

A number of people on the forum asked if Cameco is set to build a new downtown headquarters. The answer is no. [...]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/downtown+skyscraper+that+never/6944035/story.html#ixzz20soxXGVT


Thanks for getting to the bottom of this David.

[Wyku]

Wow, that's pretty cool that my post led to a newspaper article!

[dsmmace]

Originally Posted by Echoes

I was driving down Queen Street the other day and noticed a billboard with rendering up on some vacant lots at the corner of Queen and 3rd for an office/medical building.

Found the listing for it:



http://www.rexsaskatoon.com/listings_view_map.aspx#

If done well, a building of this size and scale could be a nice addition to Queen Street.

I think this is the one that Tim Ryan is developing on Queen Street. There is blue fencing around a vacant lot there.

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by Wyku

Wow, that's pretty cool that my post led to a newspaper article!

Good stuff, thanks for finding it. Maybe some day it will be a reality.

[The S'toon Goon]

That Cameco tower that never was certainly would have been an impressive addition to downtown. I am now somewhat curious to know what other options they had as I am sure more than 1 firm submitted a proposal!

Also, I think Cameco has a pretty good thing going where they are around 11th and they probably have no urge to move, but there is something to be said about having a centralized tower for your office. It can keep the majority of staff under one roof while showing rival companies that you are 'for real' so to speak. It would set the bar pretty high for mining companies both native to Sask. and new to us.

Hypothetically, if Cameco one day decided to move its offices into downtown, I wonder if their property around 11th could be redeveloped into a new residential neighborhood? It would probably fall under the infill category that the city is starting to covet. I would imagine a significant amount of $$ would need to change hands for this to work, but it's just a thought.

[Brutopian]

North downtown plans in motion

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix, July 17, 2012

The City of Saskatoon will spend $500,000 on a consultant to oversee a master plan for the north downtown.

City council's executive committee approved a report to send out a call for bids from private firms to create a framework to guide the massive redevelopment project.

The 240 acres of land between First Avenue and Idylwyld Drive and 24th Street and 33rd Street - home mostly to rail operations and the snowplows and graders of the city storage yards - could house 6,000 people in five million square feet of residential and commercial space during the next 15 to 20 years, city hall estimates.

[........]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/North+downtown+plans+motion/6944039/story.html#ixzz20vQu2TDT

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by Brutopian

North downtown plans in motion

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix, July 17, 2012

The City of Saskatoon will spend $500,000 on a consultant to oversee a master plan for the north downtown.

City council's executive committee approved a report to send out a call for bids from private firms to create a framework to guide the massive redevelopment project.

The 240 acres of land between First Avenue and Idylwyld Drive and 24th Street and 33rd Street - home mostly to rail operations and the snowplows and graders of the city storage yards - could house 6,000 people in five million square feet of residential and commercial space during the next 15 to 20 years, city hall estimates.

[........]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/North+downtown+plans+motion/6944039/story.html#ixzz20vQu2TDT

I find it to be very disappointing that the city is planning on housing only 6000 people in this area. 5 million square feet is massive! I know that there will be height restrictions to maintain character and because of flight paths but that number still seems pretty low.

[kgc087]

Has the city ever considered installing marine turbines along the entire riverbed of the city? NYC has done this with their east river and it has been a huge success. There has been no degradation to the river because of the turbines and they continually produce energy b/c of the river flow. They they work is rather than just having a turbine that spins the entire unit is mobile so that the turbine will adjust to the fastest current. In the centre of the river there shouldn't be any habitats or wildlife passing through there because the current is too powerful. Rather than botching the weir with hydro turbines why not use marine turbines instead? Thoughts anyone? The company behind this technology is Verdant power, www.verdantpower.com. Utilising technology like this could potentially make Saskatoon a carbon neutral city.

[drto]

Originally Posted by kgc087

Has the city ever considered installing marine turbines along the entire riverbed of the city? NYC has done this with their east river and it has been a huge success. There has been no degradation to the river because of the turbines and they continually produce energy b/c of the river flow. They they work is rather than just having a turbine that spins the entire unit is mobile so that the turbine will adjust to the fastest current. In the centre of the river there shouldn't be any habitats or wildlife passing through there because the current is too powerful. Rather than botching the weir with hydro turbines why not use marine turbines instead? Thoughts anyone? The company behind this technology is Verdant power, www.verdantpower.com. Utilising technology like this could potentially make Saskatoon a carbon neutral city.

Great idea but it seems to me like this would have limited usefulness in the South Saskatchewan River 1) because the depth of water isn't sufficient to house this particular type of turbine. They could manufacture a tunnel-type configuration I suppose that would be at most 3-4 feet in height submersed.
2) the S. Sask freezes for a good portion of the year and that would play with a) the mechanical components (contraction/expansion, etc and b) water flow reduces substantially in the coldest months of the year (water depth is diminished as well as half of the volume being frozen)
I do think this is something we can shoot for in the future with some tweaking.

[Temperance]

Originally Posted by Brutopian

North downtown plans in motion

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix, July 17, 2012

The City of Saskatoon will spend $500,000 on a consultant to oversee a master plan for the north downtown.

City council's executive committee approved a report to send out a call for bids from private firms to create a framework to guide the massive redevelopment project.

The 240 acres of land between First Avenue and Idylwyld Drive and 24th Street and 33rd Street - home mostly to rail operations and the snowplows and graders of the city storage yards - could house 6,000 people in five million square feet of residential and commercial space during the next 15 to 20 years, city hall estimates.

[........]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/North+downtown+plans+motion/6944039/story.html#ixzz20vQu2TDT

I'll be really interested to see what they propose. This could be a huge transformative project for Saskatoon.

[prairieguy]

Non Residential Construction Up in Saskatoon

Star Phoenix has short article on record non-residential construction in Saskatchewan. Saskatoon had second highest increase among major cities in Canada with $177 million. This accounts for almost %40 of Sask's total!

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Record+million+building+activity/6950100/story.html

[Brutopian]

Nice!!

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by drto

Great idea but it seems to me like this would have limited usefulness in the South Saskatchewan River 1) because the depth of water isn't sufficient to house this particular type of turbine. They could manufacture a tunnel-type configuration I suppose that would be at most 3-4 feet in height submersed.
2) the S. Sask freezes for a good portion of the year and that would play with a) the mechanical components (contraction/expansion, etc and b) water flow reduces substantially in the coldest months of the year (water depth is diminished as well as half of the volume being frozen)
I do think this is something we can shoot for in the future with some tweaking.

The ones in NYC were anchored at only a 10m depth. I think our river depth is plenty sufficient. As well the water doesn't freeze on that depth so how would ice affect the mechanics or turbine in any way? The point of the turbine is that it's continually producing power regardless of season. At the centre of the river the current should be pretty steady throughout the entire year along the river floor.

[kalin_10]

CTV Saskatoon
Published Wednesday, Jul. 18, 2012 6:14PM CST

Saskatoon City Council is dealing with a major development Wednesday night.

The first meeting of the summer is dealing with the construction on River Landing, with many asking when the construction will begin.

Council will be asked to approve the overall plan for the proposed development and authorize the issue of development permits at the meeting. This is considered one of the last major steps council will face on this project.

According to the city, the developer would still have to send in an application for a building permit and have it approved before shovels can go in the ground.

Read more: http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/city-council-looks-at-river-landing-development-1.884533#ixzz212uzVx00

[Echoes]

River Landing project approved

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix July 19, 2012

The high-profile $250-million hotel-office-condo development at River Landing has received its final political approval.

City council gave a thumbs up - without any comment or debate - to Victory Majors Investments Corp.'s plans for the project Wednesday night, allowing the long-delayed development to move forward.

Victory Majors' John Nasser said he took the quick vote as a sign of "continued support for the project."

"This is another step in the process and is another milestone in making this project a reality," Nasser said. "We have crossed many milestones in the past - We still have a number of goals to achieve and to date everything has been according to plan."

The plans feature a 27-storey condo tower, a 15-storey hotel and a 17-storey office complex wrapping around a public plaza.

Nasser said the company wants to create a "lasting legacy" and "Saskatchewan's most respected and recognized urban development to date."

The development still requires internal approvals from the Meewasin Valley Authority and city hall on a number of technical details such as wind studies, glazing and landscaping.

Nasser said he doesn't have a timeline for when a shovel will be in the ground at the south downtown site.

He is targeting this fall, but "we want to make sure we get it right the first time, so if that means a few month(s) delay, we can handle that."

[....]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/River+Landing+project+approved/6956226/story.html#ixzz214yaXCMc

^ I appreciate John Nasser's honesty about them taking their time to get this right. Similar comments were made in the CTV story. If they move forward on this meticulously and responsibly, then it will be a benefit to the project in the end.

[Wyku]

Originally Posted by kgc087

The ones in NYC were anchored at only a 10m depth. I think our river depth is plenty sufficient. As well the water doesn't freeze on that depth so how would ice affect the mechanics or turbine in any way? The point of the turbine is that it's continually producing power regardless of season. At the centre of the river the current should be pretty steady throughout the entire year along the river floor.

*Only* a 10m depth? The measured "primary water level" of the river in Saskatoon (not entirely sure where that's measured) doesn't even crack 3m right now with the faster/higher water levels and usually hovers around 2.5m. The weir itself is only 3.4m tall.

[Wyku]

Victory Majors' John Nasser said he took the quick vote as a sign of "continued support for the project."

Or they are just so sick of having to sign off on this over and over again and just want Nasser to do it. Do it.