Saskatoon Construction

[macca]

That corner needs development (preferably a condo) badly. It is a prime piece of property, with great views on a highly visible lot. It just looks strange (especially for a visitor) to see such a presitgious location sitting vacant (or with that monstrosity of house next to it). The condo that was proposed for location was pretty bland and ugly, so I wasn't too upset to see it not go through, but I do hope something of note gets built there. Perhaps an elegant mid rise condo? Enough with Remai and their chalet designs.

[circle33]

Originally Posted by Country

hey does anyone have any idea of the price range for a condo at the landing by north ridge?

Did a quick search on mls.ca and found this :

mls.ca

[circle33]

Interesting news release from the city...


CITY OFFERS COMMUNITY PLANNING SEMINAR ON NOVEMBER 2


The City of Saskatoon will be bringing in Dr. Robert Bruegmann, internationally-known author, researcher, and educator to speak on community planning and development, on November 2.
Dr. Bruegmann is currently a professor and Chair of the Art History Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with appointments in the School of Architecture and the Urban Planning and Policy Program. His research and teaching includes the fields of architecture, urbanism, landscapes, planning history, and historic preservation.

This seminar is open the public at a cost of $75 per person (includes a coffee/nutrition break).


Community Planning Seminar
Dr. Robert Bruegmann
Thursday, November 2; 8:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Galaxy Theatre (347 2nd Avenue South)
Cost: $75
To register, call Blaire Prima, City of Saskatoon, 975-7723
-30-

Media, for further information:

Paul Whitenect
Senior Planner, City of Saskatoon
975-8183

Randy Grauer
Manager, Development Services Branch
975-2755

Link

This Bruegmann guy has been subject to a rather vigourous debate on our fair forum here.

[Ruckus]

After reading arguements supporting and opposing Dr. Robert Bruegmann's view on sprawl, one wonders what Saskatoonians will take from this seminar?

I don't share his entire view on the topic of community planning, hopefully neither do City of Saskatoon planners. I also find it fascinating that the city would bring in a pro-sprawl lecturer at a time when people are questioning the sustainability and effectiveness of suburbs, I guess the thought WWLSD(What Would Lenore Swystun Do) never came about during discussions.

Further thoughts?

[Ruckus]

Originally Posted by slide_rule

robert bruegmann is not taken seriously in the architectural profession. he's widely perceived to have sold out his academic integrity to the heartland institute, a "free market, libertarian" think tank, that among other things, tried to downplay the risks of smoking. strangely, one of its biggest backers is philip morris. big developers and oil companies also fund the heartland institute. since they're paying bruegmann, is it any wonder bruegmann's analysis would somehow be friendly to a sprawling, oil-burning development pattern?

From the thread titled "Can Sprawl Be Beneficial"
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=117533&page=4

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by circle33

Did a quick search on mls.ca and found this :

mls.ca

thanks circle

[richmond]

Hi everyone ... I'm new to this forum as well & am happy to have found it. Some former classmates in Calgary pointed me towards it to show me the latest proposed buildings going up there & I thought, what the heck, see if Saskatoon is on here.

The Association of Professional Community Planners of SK are having an Urban Film Festival at the Broadway Theatre on Monday, November 6th from 7-9pm. It sounds interesting & it's nice to see the Broadway showing the odd design film ... Sketches of Frank Gehry & Gaudi have both recently played there.

The poles at River Landing are essentially done. The lighting should add a coolness factor but then you can shine coloured lights on just about anything & it will look good. It might be just me, but they look kind of ominous ... too orderly & upright or something.

[Dalreg]

Another noob. Just what we need. More people and hopefully more info/rumors!

Welcome aboard richmond. I agree put lights on the poles and they will look better at night. During the day they look like empty flagpoles.

[circle33]

Definitely good to see all the new contributers here. A year ago it was just Swilley and I. With all due respect to Swilley, we were running out of things to say.

[richmond]

Boy, that's a lot of pressure to come up with something interesting then. Peresphone Theatre tenders closed last week so it looks like that project will be a "go". There was also something in the newspaper a few weeks ago about Cameco possibly moving downtown. Boy, we'd actually be like a "big city" with a large company downtown. heh heh heh

[swilley]

Originally Posted by circle33

Definitely good to see all the new contributers here. A year ago it was just Swilley and I. With all due respect to Swilley, we were running out of things to say.

You can only talk about one yet to be announced project for so long......
So, anything new on the MOB?

[psych1]

Originally Posted by SASKFTW

After reading arguements supporting and opposing Dr. Robert Bruegmann's view on sprawl, one wonders what Saskatoonians will take from this seminar?

I don't share his entire view on the topic of community planning, hopefully neither do City of Saskatoon planners. I also find it fascinating that the city would bring in a pro-sprawl lecturer at a time when people are questioning the sustainability and effectiveness of suburbs, I guess the thought WWLSD(What Would Lenore Swystun Do) never came about during discussions.

Further thoughts?

Thanks for noting this SASKFTW. There seems to be two diverging themes on this thread, one being development in the larger sense, (ie. where are we going and why?) and the other being development in the more specific sense (ie. what new building is going on and what do we think of it). Interest in the broader issues doesn't seem that great, or perhaps everyone already has their minds made up? I'd like to encourage more debate on broader aspects of development, but don't seem to get many bites on my (somewhat intentionaly ) inflamatory and admittedly ramling (see the following ) posts.

It is somewhat suspicious to me that this gentleman would be coming at this particular time. Perhaps an attempt to sell the current administration's development tradjectory? But then I tend toward conspiracy theory. I wish I could afford the 75 bucks right now to go and hear him rather than forming opinions based on second hand info, but for the time being, I will remain suspicious. I fear that once sprawl begins, it is self perpetuating, the core begins to die and more people flee it, as people leave it dies a little more. Once it is ingrained in people's minds that suburbs are the place to go, it is a huge struggle to get them back to the core. I see Saskatoon as still small enough to avoid the mistakes of some of our larger prairie neighors, who are now desparately trying to invigorate their core neighborhoods, but I think we are ignoring the lessons they might teach us. I am not for rigid contol of growth but more for Jane Jacobs' approach of not subsidizing sprawl and letting development take care of itself. If you will permit a small digression, I have questioned the much harangued Lenore Swystun (I am in no way affiliated with her), and I believe that she is not antidevelopment or growth either. As a native of Saskatoon, who left and came back mainly for family reasons, I sometimes find the conservatism (note the small c) of thought here to be very frustrating. This is not really a political issue as I find much of the NDP thinking to be very conservative and sometimes moreso than that of the true Conservative Sask Party. People here just seem reluctant to consider new ideas and tend to mock those who propose them (such as LS). I heard a fair amount of whispering about Ms. Swystun's sexual orientation during the election, amongst people I thought were fairly open minded. I honestly think it is that lack of openess to new ideas and alternative perspectives which is the reason for most young people leaving Saskatchewan. It certainly was amongst the people I grew up with. I think it is also this lack of openess to new ideas is what also keeps us on the same development path forged by our larger neighbors rather than finding our own path.

Back to the subject at hand; I have no objection to building suburbs if they pay the full cost of development and are not subsidized by taking funding from the core. The best example of this was the attempt to funnel tax money promised to the central library toward building an overpass to Stonehenge. Of course that never came to pass, but the fact that anything so ludicrous was even considered speaks to the lack of thought going into many development decisions in this city.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by psych1

...the attempt to funnel tax money promised to the central library toward building an overpass to Stonehenge....

I agree completely that the idea to rob Peter to pay Paul was a rediculous idea from the beginning. Glad to see that more 'sober' minds prevailed on that one!

(wow there was sure a lot of cutting to get the quote right )

[macca]

Hey psych, I find this sort of debating fascinating, and more so, very neccessary, however I think it would be best to start another thread as this one is a neat and tidy place to check out Saskatoon projects (not there has been much of that lately). We could all ramble on for pages and pages about Sprawl (I'd love to go see Bruegmann, if only to hear him try to defend his notions about sprawl being good), but that would only bury the one picture of the MOB out there. And we love the MOB more than we love a good debate.

Cheers!

[molasses]

Originally Posted by richmond

Hi everyone ... I'm new to this forum as well & am happy to have found it. Some former classmates in Calgary pointed me towards it to show me the latest proposed buildings going up there & I thought, what the heck, see if Saskatoon is on here.

The Association of Professional Community Planners of SK are having an Urban Film Festival at the Broadway Theatre on Monday, November 6th from 7-9pm. It sounds interesting & it's nice to see the Broadway showing the odd design film ... Sketches of Frank Gehry & Gaudi have both recently played there.

The poles at River Landing are essentially done. The lighting should add a coolness factor but then you can shine coloured lights on just about anything & it will look good. It might be just me, but they look kind of ominous ... too orderly & upright or something.

Hey, thanks for bringing this up, I didn't even think to post info here....

Here is description of the evening. Also for more info on the conference, check out http://www.apcps.ca

Association of Professional Community Planners of Saskatchewan Urban Film Festival

Join us for an evening of films from across Canada and the world showcasing innovative approaches to urban issues and the people who make change in our cities. From stories of planners engaging youth to creative visions of housing in the sustainable city, the evening will provide a glimpse of what is possible in our cities.

All Welcome!

Date: Monday, November 6th
Time: 7:00 p.m. @ Broadway Theatre (715 Broadway Ave.)
Cost: $5.00
* Social Gathering at Lydia's Pub afterwards (650 Broadway Avenue)

“To A Place Called Home” (14 min)

A documentary about community building through reclamation of Slocan Park in East Vancouver by local artists and volunteers. This community-driven multi-cultural public realm redesign engaged over 600 members of the community over three years as part of the Arts Pow Wow project to celebrate the diversity of the neighbourhood through art, public engagement and reclaiming ownership of a public park.

Producer: Lisa Moffat
Contact: [email protected]

“Ways We Live: Making Shelter, My Home with Others” (25 min)

A roof overhead isn’t always enough to keep you warm. “Making Shelter, My Home with Others” is a documentary looking at how both the poor and the middle class have found the shelter of community by changing the ways they think about housing. The program visits: the James Bay Co-op in Victoria, Cardiff Place co-housing in Victoria and Four Sisters Co-op in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Among the people who share their views on housing are longtime housing activist Jim Green from Vancouver and Sarah van Gelder of Winslow co-housing on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Producers: David Springbett, Heather MacAndrew, Asterisk Productions
Contact: David Springbett, Asterisk Productions ([email protected])

“Planners for Tomorrow” (18 min)
The Planners for Tomorrow video is the culmination of a year long dialogue on the future of planning that was facilitated by students at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning. The video showcases the rcommendations that emerged from this dialogue and unveils “the planner for Tommorow”.

Producers: Samara Brock and Samuel Beresky
Contact: Samara Brock ([email protected])

“Shaping the Plaza” (22 min)

This short documentary tells the story of skateboarding in Vancouver from its humble roots, to its outlaw status, and ultimately to its legitimization; a process that gave birth to the innovative Downtown Skateboard Plaza. Skateboarders and city officials discuss the collaborative approach to the plaza design that helped redevelop an inhospitable parking lot into a popular recreation destination and the implications for creating public space for a previously excluded public.

Wriete/Director – Hugo Blomfield, Jon Frantz, Tom Lancaster, Michael Gordon
Contact: Ear to the Ground Planning, Inc. ([email protected])

[circle33]

From the newsletter of the October Saskatoon Heritige Society:

HIGH- RISE ON BROADWAY The proposed 18 storey condominium development at the corner of 9th Street and Broadway causes a great deal of concern. Besides being out of scale with its surroundings, this development will surely set a huge precedent for future building projects in this historic section of Broadway. How can we protect what was the birthplace of Saskatoon, the home of the Temperance Colony, and Saskatoon’s oldest commercial district?

Well, to answer the question that is the final sentence, perhaps they should work to get historical designations for the buildings in the area that are significant (a difficult to define notion, for sure). The Northern Paint store and the abutting vacant lots do not, in my opinion qualify. It's not like Ken Achs has a reputation for bulldozing history, in fact quite the opposite.

[macca]

Presumeably then all the other mid to high rise buildings in the broadway district "do not fit the surroundings"?

[circle33]

I'm sure they fought each of those like hell too. Persistent bunch.

I'll add I'm not totally unsympathetic to their cause; a little heritige is good for the soul. They just seem to oppose everything.

[Stewie]

Maybe this group should pay the hundred thousand plus in expected property taxes this high rise will bring to the city each year and keep their precious abandoned Northern Paints store. What about the hundred or so people that will be spending thier salaries in the broadway neighborhood. Talk about rediculous.

It is always easy to complain about an issue like saving heritage buildings, but these people never suggest alternatives; i.e. the Legion building fiasco - the Legion owned it, and sold it. It was THEIR decision - what was the problem? Gathercole? We all know that story...

The last time I checked, Saskatoon is a CITY. Cities have High Rise Buildings. The constant bickering of the CAVE people in this city are driving me crazy. Broadway is no longer a Temperance colony. GEEZ!

[Stewie]

Oops - hit the button twice..