Big red price tag: Exactly how much did it cost to bring the RedBall Project to Saskatoon?

A big red ball resembling a perfect toy for Clifford the Big Red Dog came to the City of Saskatoon with an equally large price tag.

The appropriately named RedBall Project, a travelling art installation that has visited cities around the world, is in Saskatoon this week, with stops at popular city destinations like River Landing, Broadway Avenue and the Prairie Lily.

According to the City of Saskatoon, the cost of having the RedBall public art project come to the City of Bridges totalled $61,500.

Troy Davies, city councillor for Saskatoon’s Ward 4, asked who was footing the bill for the inflatable art piece during city council on Tuesday morning.

Lynne Lacroix, general manager for community services with the city, said the program was a collaboration as part of the Placemaker Program in collaboration with the city’s various Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). She said the BIDs approached the city in 2019 to undertake the project.

The city is one of five funders for the project which was originally approved to happen in 2019 or early 2020. It was delayed because of COVID-19.

Public minutes from a meeting of the city’s Public Art Advisory Committee from March 11, 2022 shared the project would be postponed until the end of this June because of scheduling conflicts. Community development manager Kevin Kitchen advised then that city administration would be meeting with the BIDs for an alternative Placemaker event in 2022.

“The BIDs are the primary drivers as they are the lead in many of our urban design program and, in particular, the Placemaker Program,” he said.

Lacroix further clarified the program would have been budgeted for in 2019.

In an email from the city, further clarification about the funding for the project was provided.

Of the $61,500 price tag, $45,000 was covered through a grant to the Broadway Business Improvement District from the Placemaker Program — an annual operating program in the city’s operating budget.

The funding for the Placemaker Program comes from parking meter revenue, with the program meant to “add significance to civic spaces, engage with audiences and promote an appreciation for contemporary art practices through temporary public art.”

The city emphasized that property taxes were not used to pay for the project.

The remaining cost of $16,500 was incurred by the BIDs and SKArts, according to the city.

Comparatively, the cost of an inflatable ball measuring 15 feet in diameter — with continuous air to keep it inflated — is around $5,900 US through the American company Creatable Inflatables.

In 2017, the City of Calgary spent $33,000 to bring the art piece there to add to its Canada 150 celebrations.