Saskatoon Construction III

[Arts]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

Back to the library design, I just went over the entire report and there seems to be no parking - yes, this coming from me - except for a limited number of stalls, less than the staff would need, in the alleyway. Why wouldn't they put one level of parking under the entire site and gain revenue from that? This seems like a massive oversight. Haha if you notice the pun.

Anyway, I'm an idealist with an occasional shwack from the reality club. There should be one full level of underground parking, at least. Do it while you can. Convert the space to other uses later when cars become obsolete;>) It could house a civic museum. For now, fill it with cars and gain revenue while bringing in the 'upper classes' for an outing. It's a win-win thing.

And it's got to have a park on top, if they keep this design. Come on! That flat roof sucks! It's crying out for some love. The views would be fantastic for folks to enjoy and the blending of nature with the city would be complete, with my call for evergreens. Make it safe, and make it work. It takes time and effort, which a lot of folks don't have. But that's why they called on the professionals to design this place and are paying them the big bucks! Com'on Bros! Give us your best ever work. Saskatoon Shines! Don't treat us as hicks! We're developing;>)

More good points. A new central library is an opportunity that only comes around once every 50-100 years and rushing to get this thing built is going to make it miss out on a lot of the reasons for it to even be built in the first place. The city needs to take it's time on the design for this one, the public needs to have a chance to evaluate many, many different concepts and the city needs to find ways to improve the innovation here. Contractors are just looking to make a quick buck but they don't get to decide what we want built, we do and we need to think big. A central library is way more important than an art gallery yet we have a giant overpriced, overbuilt new art gallery that took decades to formulate, whereas the SPL might have been saving for a new building for some time they haven't really engaged enough with the public or exhausted the planning process yet (not even close). Council needs to stop with the posturing and trying to fast track projects just so they have a postcard to brag about.

[Ricopedra]

edited

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

But why would you attack/not support the gallery/museum that's already proven itself? I'm at a loss.

I don't think Arts attacked the gallery. He stated several things that are true: it took a long time to build, cost a lot of money, and is overbuilt. All of these facts and one's enjoyment of the gallery are not mutually exclusive.

As for parking, maybe they expect the people who live downtown (Roryn) to use the central library and for people in the suburbs to use their neighborhood branch, thus eliminating the need for a visitors' parking lot. There are plenty of central libraries (including Saskatoon's current one) that do not have a large supply of parking.

[Sask.ks]

I’m curious as to what the parking minimum required for the central library is. I know our zoning bylaws have plenty of rules regarding parking spaces...just not sure if the rules for libraries are different. From what I’ve seen browsing the development appeals board agendas I’d expect a build of this size (sq footage) to require at least one floor of underground parking.

I recall seeing the minimum number of stalls required for the Costco in the Meadows is around 700 stalls. This came up in one of the DAB agendas - Costco had to submit an appeal for an expansion because the expansion stipulated a certain number of additional parking stalls were to be added (which they don’t have the space for, hence the appeal). I can find and link the DAB agenda in question if anyone’s interested.

[Roquentin]

The Princess Alexandra location has been chosen for a new, consolidated elementary school. I wonder what will happen to the schools that will close. I expect they'll be demolished without much delay, given the estimated cost of renovations. If I had a spare $40M, how I'd love to turn the Pleasant Hill and King George schools into Westside versions of the Albert Community Centre. Arg. At the very least, I hope that the sites of the closed schools will be redeveloped as expanded parks for their communities. I hope the new school is a true jewel. It's good to hear that the school board is considering incorporating facilities from the White Buffalo Youth Lodge into the new school. Anyway, it's nice that Optimist Park won't be affected, but this is all pretty bittersweet news in my opinion.

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/loca...school-project

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...site-1.6050198

[scotty c]

Originally Posted by Sask.ks

I’m curious as to what the parking minimum required for the central library is. I know our zoning bylaws have plenty of rules regarding parking spaces...just not sure if the rules for libraries are different. From what I’ve seen browsing the development appeals board agendas I’d expect a build of this size (sq footage) to require at least one floor of underground parking.

I recall seeing the minimum number of stalls required for the Costco in the Meadows is around 700 stalls. This came up in one of the DAB agendas - Costco had to submit an appeal for an expansion because the expansion stipulated a certain number of additional parking stalls were to be added (which they don’t have the space for, hence the appeal). I can find and link the DAB agenda in question if anyone’s interested.

I’m not certain but I think that non-residential buildings downtown of a certain size don’t require parking at all. My work has a building not far from the library location and we just did some work on possible renovations and part of the review that was done showed that we weren’t required to have any onsite parking based on the zone we were in.

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

I don't think Arts attacked the gallery. He stated several things that are true: it took a long time to build, cost a lot of money, and is overbuilt. All of these facts and one's enjoyment of the gallery are not mutually exclusive.

As for parking, maybe they expect the people who live downtown (Roryn) to use the central library and for people in the suburbs to use their neighborhood branch, thus eliminating the need for a visitors' parking lot. There are plenty of central libraries (including Saskatoon's current one) that do not have a large supply of parking.

Went to the downtown library a week ago - only 2 blocks away and drove there hahaha.

There’s always a ton of available on street parking in front of the current library - definitely even more spots in this upcoming one at the moment. I definitely hope it could be “attachable ready” to buildings next to it - since the reality is that most people won’t ever enjoy walking downtown in the winter if they have a vehicle - even if it’s just a few blocks. Hate on me for that comment but that’s the reality of humans lol. Maybe BRT will change that - again ensuring that the BRT stop is directly near the front door/bus stop is heated.

[SaskE30]

Originally Posted by Roquentin

The Princess Alexandra location has been chosen for a new, consolidated elementary school. I wonder what will happen to the schools that will close. I expect they'll be demolished without much delay, given the estimated cost of renovations. If I had a spare $40M, how I'd love to turn the Pleasant Hill and King George schools into Westside versions of the Albert Community Centre. Arg. At the very least, I hope that the sites of the closed schools will be redeveloped as expanded parks for their communities. I hope the new school is a true jewel. It's good to hear that the school board is considering incorporating facilities from the White Buffalo Youth Lodge into the new school. Anyway, it's nice that Optimist Park won't be affected, but this is all pretty bittersweet news in my opinion.

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/loca...school-project

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...site-1.6050198

I've heard rumors from pretty reliable sources that there is a lot of interest from private inventors to redevelop the old castle schools. I for one, hope they come to fruition!

[Roquentin]

You know, recent and ongoing chatter about tunnels and walkways downtown has got me thinking: all of the tall buildings in the core should be connected with a network of ziplines!

Now, you might have questions. Roquentin, are there enough tall buildings downtown to make ziplining practical? Who cares! We can easily build more tall buildings. Will property owners want ziplines on their rooftops and “zippers” in their buildings? Who cares! Property owners will do whatever we tell them. What will happen to businesses that aren’t part of the zipline network? Who cares! New rooftop businesses will take their place. Who will pay for all of these ziplines? Who cares! Isn’t this a mind-numbingly absurd and simplistic “plan”/fantasy? Who cares!

Don’t ask questions! Don't be a zipline hater! This is an important priority! Zipping around downtown will be so fun and easy that it will even make it possible to survive our apocalyptic winters. Show that you care about the future of this city, and have some imagination. It's time the city had a new motto: "Saskatoon Zips!"

Of course, maybe ziplines are more of a Shelbyville, oops I mean Regina, idea.......

Originally Posted by SaskE30

I've heard rumors from pretty reliable sources that there is a lot of interest from private inventors to redevelop the old castle schools. I for one, hope they come to fruition!

That's great! But who wants to talk about redeveloping beautiful historical buildings in the inner city when we can talk about ziplines instead!

[Arts]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

I don't think Arts attacked the gallery. He stated several things that are true: it took a long time to build, cost a lot of money, and is overbuilt. All of these facts and one's enjoyment of the gallery are not mutually exclusive...

Correct, I'm not specifically attacking the RemaiModern, I've been critical of it but the point I was trying to make is that it took a long time for the idea to coalesce into what would become, a facility that far exceeds what people were expecting.

In the case of the library, when I say we need to think big I don't mean we need to spend big, or build the Taj Mahal I just mean to say that we need to give it a long think on what it will be, I'd love to see way more innovation on what the facility can actually DO for people here, I would love for it to be a place that offers something valuable and desirable to literally every individual, all simultaneously (or as close as we can come if we were to have some great minds devoted to spending several years stewing on the possibilities).

[phone]

Originally Posted by Roquentin

You know, recent and ongoing chatter about tunnels and walkways downtown has got me thinking: all of the tall buildings in the core should be connected with a network of ziplines!

Many years ago I had the idea that Saskatoon should dig up all its streets and replace them with canals. At the end of each street, a wave machine would be installed. In this way, everyone could simply surf to and fro around the city. This seems about as practical as a network of skywalks in a low rise downtown riddled with vacant lots.

[Roquentin]

Originally Posted by phone

Many years ago I had the idea that Saskatoon should dig up all its streets and replace them with canals. At the end of each street, a wave machine would be installed. In this way, everyone could simply surf to and fro around the city. This seems about as practical as a network of skywalks in a low rise downtown riddled with vacant lots.

That's brilliant! We wouldn't need as many parking lots either --- just racks for people to store their surfboards. I wonder if waterslides could be incorporated somehow?

This reminds me of a recent-ish idea floated (or frozen?) in Edmonton: a "freezeway" that would flood trails through the city for people to skate on as a form of transportation.

https://globalnews.ca/news/1763767/f...skate-to-work/

The freezeway plans (the YouTube video in the article is worth watching) were inspired by legendary 90s city councillor Tooker Gomberg's suggestion that the city pop fire hydrants and flood the streets in the winter so that everyone could commute by skating. Gomberg was a staunch environmentalist, known for being an excellent shit disturber, so it's hard to say exactly how tongue-in-cheek his idea was. I love the thought of a fleet of zambonis doing road maintenance, though!

So anyway, maybe our streets could be canals and waterslides during the summertime, and in the winter they'd freeze and be used for skating! Surfboards and skates, the Saskatoon way! I love it! Now we're getting somewhere!

[Ricopedra]

Edited

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by SaskE30

I've heard rumors from pretty reliable sources that there is a lot of interest from private inventors to redevelop the old castle schools. I for one, hope they come to fruition!

Meridian or Strata would do an incredible job of that. For condos/lofts? Everyone loves the condos that have been redone from old warehouses in our warehouse district.

on a side note of old buildings being redone, anyone hear if Legacy Land Corp got their finances in place or will Tees and Persse building be unfinished for the foreseeable future still

[Roquentin]

It looks like the Newbury has popped up on Clarence, though the exterior is unfinished (https://thestarphoenix.com/news/loca...inary-blessing). I don't love the design, but I'm a fan of townhouses in general and can think of more than a few spots that could benefit from this kind of small-scale use. Speaking of townhouses, it looks like the strip on Eastlake and 11th, across from Nutana Collegiate, is undergoing significant renovations. I wonder if they're being converted from rentals to condos?

A block away, on Saskatchewan Crescent across from Rotary Park, there's a sign up to advertise a new 4-story residential block that will be built into the patch of trees west of the Victoria Place apartments. I had just assumed that was parkland, undevelopable due to the slope. Anyway, it looks suitably high-end for the location and will fit with the other blocks along that strip.

Just a quick Nutana round-up!

[prairieguy]

That lot across from Rotary has been up and down for development over the last 10 years for condo project. I believe the last one's to try and make a go of it were Remai, but after several years of a buildboard being up, it came down with a whimper.

Would be nice to see another quality build like Escala.

[YXE]

Does anyone "in the know" have any clue where the city wants to build the arena? Were we not supposed to hear the desired location over a year ago?! I am getting impatient.

Someone here must have some tea that he/she can share, anonymously...

[The Bess]

I don't believe they have released that info yet, here is link to the last report which says nothing except they are still negotiating

https://pub-saskatoon.escribemeeting...umentId=106775

[SaskE30]

Foundation Equipment is starting to arrive on site for the Dufferin and Main tower.

Rebar cages for the piles have also been delivered. It might just be me but the cages look a little short for something that is going to underpin a 10+ story building. I'm not a foundations engineer though....

[roryn1]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...site-1.6060986

darn. What would fit nicely here? Once my vehicle got broken into on 2nd and the perpetrators dumped a few of my belongings right next to here. It’s a area that really needs some love.