February 13, 2024 – Message to the Membership
Posted on February 13, 2024 in Message to the Membership
This may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but I’m not much of a social media poster. And for those of you that are active on social media, this following message may not be all that informative to you, as, out of character, I have been a little active on social media these past few days.
Reason being, last week the City of Saskatoon released artist renderings of the Downtown Event and Entertainment District (DEED). To the surprise of no one, it received both rave reviews and harsh criticism, depending on which side of the debate you may fall upon.
As a member of the DEED Advisory Group, and as NSBA has taken the position of support for the development of this important piece of public infrastructure, I therefore put out the following post:
There are strong opinions on both sides of this debate, including within our membership. Many questions are yet to be answered, including the costs and how it will be paid for. We’re very mindful of that, but also very excited about the possibilities this will bring for generations into the future.
Aside from the costs, naysayers also speak to the usefulness of today’s SaskTel Centre. Although SaskTel Centre has been an amazing addition and asset for the City of Saskatoon, it is antiquated by today’s standards. How can that be, it’s only 35 years old, some may wonder. There are many factors to this, too numerous to mention in post like this, and SaskTel Centre CEO John Howden can speak to them better than anyone. He may even offer a tour, like he did for me.
But things have changed a lot in 35 years. For instance, consider that 35 years ago, one of SaskTel Centre’s (then Saskatchewan Place’s) biggest competitors for consumer discretionary/entertainment spending was Blockbuster Video.
Times have changed indeed.
Let’s move forward in a positive fashion and create something truly awesome in our downtown.
And of course, as expected, I received blowback as is the norm on social media (and hence one of the biggest reasons I hate it.) And some of it from friends of mine on top of it.
What a waste of taxpayer’s money. Which acts aren’t coming here? Calling them naysayers is disrespectful (huh??) Etc. etc.
To which I responded and hopefully quelled their concerns to some degree (but I doubt it, frankly). However, the arguments for a new event centre and entertainment district are as follows:
In speaking with those in the know, SaskTel Centre is becoming harder and harder to accommodate the acts of today. They’ve simply outgrown our facility. For example, Morgan Wallen’s recent show here didn’t include four semi loads of equipment that were used in shows in all of their other stops.
Reason being, our ceiling height is too low. We don’t have a rigging grid, which is commonplace for arenas of today. As a result, any time any rigging is required (which is virtually all of the time for the lights, speakers, big screens, pyro, etc.), SaskTel Centre has to call in the Saskatoon Fire Department to do the rigging. They get harnessed up and dangle between the rafters to get the lights, speakers, big screens etc., just right for the performance. Whereas with a rigging grid, you would just walk on the platform, fix a clip to the right place, hang whatever from there and away you go.
As a result, many times the shows double the amount of time, and labour, it takes for set up and take down here. As they say, time is money, so you know what that does to the profit margin for the act and their promoter. And if they have another venue to play in that costs them less, guess what, they’re gone.
And they’re already starting to do that. But because of the potential for damaging relationships and spotlighting artists for the wrong reasons, SaskTel Centre isn’t willing to provide a list of those who have foregone Saskatoon for other destinations. But just look to the shows that play in Winnipeg, then Edmonton (or vice versa) but no stop in Saskatoon.
As I said in my response to one of the detractors (is this also a derogatory term? I hope not, no offence intended…), unless we’re willing to accept Nestor Pistor and Irish Rovers tribute acts as our entertainment options of the future, we may want to do something about this. (Apologies to Nestor Pistor and Irish Rovers fans.)
So why doesn’t SaskTel Centre just put in a rigging grid as part of a renovation project, people wonder. Well, because the reno’s would cost more than what it’s worth to solve their bigger problems.
Such as a higher roof (like 30 feet higher), which also has the structural integrity to support the required HVAC units for a crowd of 16,000 (unlike the current one – have you ever been in the nosebleed section at a summertime Rush game? I have, and it’s sweat-rolling-down-your-back hot up there). That’s because the roof can’t structurally support enough AC units on the roof to keep the place cool.
They’d also need to replace the seats with bigger ones, which means less capacity; or add more rows if the roof gets lifted; create wider concourses and bigger entry points; have more concessions, a new and much larger kitchen, more dressing rooms; add elevator shafts and loading docks. More, bigger and better luxury suites. More bathrooms. And let’s not forget about the roof, with increased structural integrity, along with more HVAC units and the rigging grid.
The list goes on and on, and these all mean blowing out walls, literally raising the roof etc. to make space. In other words, basically, changing everything. There comes a point when reno’s don’t make sense on any project and you’re better off to start from scratch. This is a perfect example of that.
Like, I said in my post, let’s move forward in a positive way.
Until next time, be safe, be smart, be considerate, be well, but most of all, be kind.
Keith Moen
Executive Director
NSBA
