Letter to City Council regarding parking on the proposed cultural block for October 18, 2004, meeting

October 11, 2004



His Worship the Mayor
and Members of City Council
222 Third Avenue North
Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5


Dear Mayor Atchison and Members of City Council:

I wish to submit some comments and questions to the Executive Committee in relation to Item A5 of Communications from City Council’s September 20, 2004 meeting. The matter pertained to the ‘cultural block’ of the City’s South Downtown project and was referred to administration for a report to the committee.

Attached is a copy of a letter dated September 12, 2003, which was obtained through the Access to Information Act, from Wright Construction Western Inc. to Persephone Theatre. The cost of construction of the new theatre is apparently based on this letter. It states:

“To build a new 450-seat theatre facility with a 7 story stage flyway, our budget quotation for this is $6,200,000. This includes engineering and architectural fees, but does not include any cost of the land or any pavement or parking upgrades.”

It appears that the cost of parking might not have been included, not to mention the land.

A schematic diagram in the South Downtown Concept Plan 2004 shows approximately 260 underground parking stalls could be located on the cultural block.

Section 4.7 of the Saskatoon Downtown Parking Study (Stantec: February 19, 2004) states:

“Costs for the construction of an underground parking structure are in the order of $20,000 to $25,000 per stall, or greater, not including the cost of the land.”

Using the consultant’s estimates it appears that the cost to provide the 260 underground parking stalls alone could be as much as $6.5-million, or greater. Who will be paying for this – Persephone Theatre, the City, or a developer?

Lastly, has the City contemplated spending public money to construct a major parkade to service the Gathercole Site? If so, where would it be located and what would it cost?

Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to receiving your reply.

Sincerely,



Joseph Kuchta
Saskatoon, SK

/Attachment

Cc: Phil Richards, City Manager