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Saskatoon’s Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Saskatoon say a new arena and entertainment district for the city could bring a $1.37-billion boost to Saskatoon’s economy over the next decade.
An independent study released by the chamber and business improvement district suggested building the arena and surrounding district could boost downtown Saskatoon’s population by 10,000 people, and generate $322 million annually in consumer spending and $213 million in gross economic activity.
“We wanted to try and get a much clearer picture of what that potential economic impact could look like,” said Jason Aebig, CEO of the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.
“There have been studies done as recently as 2018, but those studies were based on a different set of factors, including the facilities being in two different places. Once the decision was to co-locate them in Saskatoon, it was an opportunity for us to explore what that could look like going forward.”
Aebig said the study was very conservative in its assumptions, but the benefit it could bring to downtown was still higher than he initially expected.
He said he thinks the downtown arena and entertainment district is an investment city council should make.
“It is clear that the co-location of these facilities in a residential and downtown entertainment district will deliver a huge amount of economic impact to our city in the form of jobs, an expanded tax base, private investment downtown and countering the cost of urban sprawl,” he explained.
Aebig said the project could drive other future development in that area as well.
There is so far no final price tag on the arena project, which still needs to be debated further by Saskatoon’s city council.
Aebig said that because of the potential economic impact, the project could eventually pay for itself before too long.
“It pays itself off in 10 years, and after that point it’s all upside. If I put the same opportunity on a smaller scale, we’re looking at investing in a new house because the one we have now is starting to fall apart,” he explained.
“Every new penny we put into that house that’s falling apart is going to deliver less and less of a benefit to us going forward. If we’re going to pursue a new house, what does the cost benefit of that look like? And if we can pay it off in 10 years and continue to benefit from it going forward, then that is a smart investment.”
The CEO said building new rather than renovating SaskTel Centre is the way to go moving forward.
“The goal, and it’s one that we support, is to reduce or minimize the impact on property taxes. That, I think, is a critical piece of this conversation that we’re going to have. If we do not pursue new facilities in a district like the one we’re talking about, the cost of renovating our current facilities and maintaining those buildings will fall to the taxpayer, period,” Aebig stated.
“There isn’t any private investment that’s going to want to come and want to put wallpaper up on our existing facilities. To be blunt, there aren’t going to be any saviours to help us offset the cost of maintaining these buildings over time.”
The report also suggested that for every missed music and entertainment opportunity, the city misses out on about $19.4 million. For major, two-day events and 1,000-attendee conferences or conventions, the city loses $3.14 million.
The city has purchased land for the potential arena site, which cost $25 million.
More public reports on the proposed arena and event district are expected to be presented to the city early next year.
