Saskatoon Construction

[yorktonite]

Originally Posted by Stewie

Hopefully this announcement by the Police Service means that the VCom project may be going ahead.

It's official, it was on the CTV news tonight at 6:00. VCom purcashed the building for $2,700,000. Their big plan right now is to get 80-100 employers into the top two floors of the building with in the next 3-4 months, and once the rest of the building is empty they are going to move the rest of their staff in. They also noted that they plan on spending hundreds of thousands in renovations.

Also to note, the current building the police are located in can have another floor added to it. The mayor said that they are looking into the possiblty in doing this so that they can accomplish the need for more space.

Great news for the downtown core.

[steveo]

This is nothing big, and certanly not a skyscraper but the new Cenetnnial Collegiate on the east side is nearing completion.

[Dalreg]

When is this city going to remember that there is a west side also? It seems that most peoples ideal Saskatoon would have all the housing move to the east side and all industrial on the west side. Can't forget the big boxes sprinkled amongst the houses.

[macca]

Have you seen what's under construction/planned for the west side?

[swilley]

Here is the link on the new west side suburban centre http://www.saskatoon.ca/org/leisure/programs/blairmore/index.asp

And here is the sprawl!



And here is the plan for more sprawl....

[Dalreg]

That is what the first REAL development on the west side since what the early 80's? I'm sure I could probably dig up development plans for the east side that would go all the way to highway41, or even the hills along #5.
The second drawing you posted sums it up pretty well. Most of the West side is not recommended for residential. Would anyone really develop the southwest as residential? I'll buy a house on top of the dump! HAHAHA!

[swilley]

I think the reasoning for not recommending residential for those areas is because they are already developed with acreages, ect. The areas that are recommended are farm land and easily annexed.

[SpongeG]

A&B Sound closing Saskatchewan stores

SASKATOON -- A&B Sound will be just an echo in Saskatchewan's ears after Sunday.

The once-strong consumer electronics chain, rescued from its creditors through a corporate buyout by a B.C-based computer manufacturer last year, quietly closed its Regina location Aug. 11 and will do the same in Saskatoon after the last customer leaves Sunday afternoon.

Staff at the Saskatoon store on Pacific Avenue were busy with a final closing-out sale Friday and referred all questions to a toll-free customer service line.

A company spokesperson said contact information for people making inquiries about the closures were being written down "and a response will come probably Monday or Tuesday."

A&B Sound was founded in Vancouver in 1959 and grew rapidly through the 1980s and 1990s until trouble arrived in the form of competition from retail giants such as Future Shop, HMV and Wal-Mart. At that time, the chain boasted more than 20 stores in Western Canada.

The new millennium brought hardship, and from 2002 to 2004 the company lost more than $6 million. Staring down an accumulated debt of $57 million, it sought court protection in January 2005 and was bought the following month by Richmond-based Seanix Technology.

In an interview with CanWest News Service last December, Seanix founder and president Paul Girard said the company intended to close or relocate several of A&B's money-losing outlets and focus on growing its business in Alberta and B.C. Both of the chain's Winnipeg locations closed last year, while new ones sprang up in B.C.'s lower mainland.

When Red Deer, Alta., lost its A&B Sound outlet earlier this month, customers received the news from closing-sale ads in the local newspaper, and staff said they'd been instructed not to discuss the status of the business.

The Saskatoon closure means another major retailer in the city's downtown warehouse district has closed up shop, leaving a vacant commercial building behind. A local outlet of Regina-based Urbane Gift and Decor disappeared last year, less than a year after moving from a Broadway-area strip mall to another Pacific Avenue building.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/n...?id=327095ff-fa63-42ba-8ed3-942f7c636719

[ToddStoon]

Urbane was a failure because they overreached. They spent huge bucks renovating a restaurant into a home design store including putting in a new small kitchen and a huge fireplace. Unfortunately this meant they wanted to charge huge bucks for design items which Saskatoon apparently couldn't support. It didn't help either that the prices at Sew and Home (on 8th) were a bit lower and the same items were often stocked at both places.

It'll be interesting to see what happens at A&B. Is it residential loft material?

[steveo]

Hey, this is sorta OT, but did anyone go see the fireworks last night? I got a few pics but most of them didn't turn out. I'm to lazy to upload all of them right now so heres a nice one.



Suprisingly it was a really good fireworks show. And there was a really good turn out. We took about 1/2 hr to find a place to park. We ended up parking more than four blocks away from the river.

[macca]

It looks like the Extra Foods site is almost ready to be a parking lot. My excitement is barely containable. If we don't get word on the Meridian soon, I may just curl up in a ball and start sobbing.

[swilley]

^ I think its time someone emailed Meridian.... I did last time and look where it's got us. Hopefully then, by the time circle crawled out of that hole he has been hiding in, we will have a drawing!

[macca]

I think your past Meridian emailing experience makes you the most qualified...

[circle33]

I'll do it.

[circle33]

I just did it.

By the way I'm back in town. I'm never leaving again. The outside world blows.

[macca]

What did you say! What did you say! Why does this feel like a prank phone call, or something?

[circle33]

Nothing verbose, just that a bunch of us enthusiasts (not geeks, enthusiasts) are interested in the status of the project and would be interested in any information that could be provided.

Anyway the "triptics" (this what the artist called them when I chatted him during Fringe '05) have been removed from the Northern Paints building. Could demolition be far behind?

[macca]

Ya, I'd wanna save those "triptics" too.... cause they're so.... um, colourful?

Speaking of colour, the former Apex Graphics and current Pesto's got a nice new paint job. It looks really good, though it's almost exactly the same colour scheme the Yard has (or had, before they put in the lovely stack stone facade). I'm still hearing rumors that Sandbox Clothing Co. is moving into that location. Any shop at Sandbox in Waskesieu? My girlfriend is very excited.

[circle33]

We do not have anything to release to the general public about "The Meridian on Broadway". We will probably make an announcement sometime in September, please watch the website.

Probably September....

My street is getting paved

[macca]

Words like "probably" and "sometime" are great. They mean nothing, yet can placate. Oh well, I can always watch the gravel get leveled at the Extra Foods site. Or I can watch as the building between the Capitol and the Canada takes aprox. as long as the Pyramids to be built. Or maybe watch the cars parking on the "Tower 21" site. Yes, my July excitement has turned to August frustration. September depression is inevitable. Meanwhile, the Regina thread will surpass this one and I will become suicidal.

Congrats on the street paving though!