Saskatoon Central Library | 4 Floors | Design Phase

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Saskabusher

well, a gov't liquor store being demolished for a native-themed center for healing, learning and education, for meetings and discussions by and for the public is....

And the public is what? Ambivalent would be my best guess. Not a topic of discussion among anyone I know.

[Saskabusher]

yeah well, a place causing a lot of harm is replaced with one that does good is fitting, justice, karma, progress, whatever... everyone you know probably hated the art gallery too and now they'e all on instagram in front of it. Carlin has something to say about your average folk

[Crisis]

Sorry, I misread your original comment. I'd read it as:

well, a gov't liquor store being demolished for a native-themed center for healing, learning and education, for meetings and discussions and the public is...

I now understand what your intent was. I first thought it was a comment on the public's reaction.

[Saskabusher]

oh, no problem. but there, too, the public should be-and will be proud once it's done. the average joe should take their gripes press em hard and make some wine. hey! full circle!

[roryn1]

I just want the same amenities downtown that the suburbs have

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by roryn1

I just want the same amenities downtown that the suburbs have

I find it hard to believe that the business case for a downtown liquor store is significantly worse than a suburban one. Sure, downtown doesn't have a huge downtown population. But I have to think some people from City Park, Riversdale, and Nutana would all shop there. Plus, I imagine plenty of downtown office workers would be loyal customers for office parties and Friday afternoon drinks.

[djforsberg]

The LB store won't be re-opened because our conservative provincial government doesn't want their union workers forcing the free market to have to compete for livable wages. That's the simple answer. (It certainly isn't to lower the cost of the product)

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by esquire

That's a nice looking library... impressive scale too.

Agreed!
Is this just an initial rendering or close to the final design?

[CanadianDriverYXE]

Future Site of Saskatoon Central Library

[Saskabusher]

nice sneaky update of T+P in the bg, too, CanadianDriverYXE. that part of town will be springing to life soon and looking good doing it

[asdfgh]

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/constru...rary-1.6022368

[FarmerHaight]

Why Saskatoon's Libraries and a Lifeline for the City's Homeless

I found this article while searching for construction updates.

A lot of the backlash to the central branch funding was along the lines of "Who even uses libraries except homeless people anymore?" As someone who uses the library in Vancouver quite frequently, I don't see a lot of truth in this statement. But even if it is marginally true in Saskatoon's case, that is not a good argument against funding libraries IMO.

[Crisis]

Phil Tank gets it:

Phil Tank: Downtown Saskatoon library being on budget sounds like a fairy tale
A library spokeswoman says the project is proceeding on schedule and on budget, despite the effect of inflation on other big projects.

Link to the full column:
https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/c...e-a-fairy-tale

A relevant example closer to home is the new Rec Centre in Prince Albert:

The city originally had a budget of $60 million for the recreation facility, with $44 million coming from the federal and provincial governments, but the new estimated cost has been bumped up to $113.8 million due to inflation.

https://www.sasktoday.ca/north/local...to%20inflation.

[asdfgh]

Originally Posted by Crisis

Phil Tank gets it:



Link to the full column:
https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/c...e-a-fairy-tale

A relevant example closer to home is the new Rec Centre in Prince Albert:



https://www.sasktoday.ca/north/local...to%20inflation.

Phil Tank gets how to manufacture drama with half-truths and conjecture. Sorry, he's made so many misleading or just plain wrong statements so many times about various city-led projects, that I sometimes wonder if he just makes up facts if he can't find controversy in a city-led project.

It's really unfortunate, as he COULD be someone who would provide worthwhile insight and legitimate criticism about city projects, but he's just become a predictable scrouge hating on everything the city does that it's hard to take anything he says seriously.

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by asdfgh

Sorry, he's included so many times about various city-led projects, that I sometimes wonder if he just makes up facts if he can't find controversy in a city-led project.

I don’t know what you’re trying to say here. And frankly, I don’t really have any opinion on Phil Tank, but what he’s written about the likely cost of the new Central Library is on the money. City council are kidding themselves, and Saskatoon taxpayers, if they think this project is going come in anywhere near the current budget.

[YXE]

If I am not mistaken, the city included a 30% contingency in the initial budget for the library. Let's hope that this will cover a majority of more recent inflation-induced cost increases.

[roryn1]

Phil has an algorithmic style to his op-ed’s that typically gets you to click into his articles like any other op-ed lol.

Hopefully inflation isn’t too bad, but as mentioned above it looks like there is contingency for inflation that he seems to forget to mention in his op-ed (including it would make the article less clickbait). I don’t think they accounted for THIS bad of inflation though, but like just like how commodity prices like grains will go back to normal levels, wood prices and other major commodities will eventually come down. Does the project need to be paused if they’ve really skyrocketed? maybe..

Why does Sask never have just a nice clean boom lol. Maybe our economy is never meant to have a nice honest boom because commodity cycles that we reap the benefits from always come with damage to other parts of the economy lol

[asdfgh]

Originally Posted by Crisis

I don’t know what you’re trying to say here. And frankly, I don’t really have any opinion on Phil Tank, but what he’s written about the likely cost of the new Central Library is on the money. City council are kidding themselves, and Saskatoon taxpayers, if they think this project is going come in anywhere near the current budget.

Oops, yeah, I must've deleted part of that sentence, it makes no sense.

That should say something like:
"Sorry, he's made so many misleading or just plain wrong statements so many times about various city-led projects, that I sometimes wonder if he just makes up facts if he can't find controversy in a city-led project."

Also, you (and he) may be right re: increased costs, but as noted, SPL included a pretty decent size contingency in the budget. It may still not be enough, but it's unfortunate that Phil conveniently doesn't reference the contingency.

[Echoes]

Library board accepts offer for Frances Morrison branch building

Bryn Levy

The Saskatoon Public Library is working to finalize the sale of the building housing its central branch in downtown Saskatoon.

A library spokesman confirmed Tuesday in an emailed statement that a buyer has been found for the Frances Morrison Central Library building at 311 23rd St. E.

“While Saskatoon Public Library’s Board accepted an offer for the Frances Morrison Central Library earlier this summer, details are still being worked out and the deal has not closed yet,” he wrote.

Because the deal is still to be completed, the library did not provide any information on the identity of the buyer or the price that was offered for the 78,000-square-foot building, which was built in 1966.

Some points of comparison for how much a potential deal for the building could bring in include the recent sale of Nutrien’s former headquarters at 122 First Ave. S. Commercial real estate firm CBRE Canada reported in July that it completed the sale of the 156,000 sq. foot tower for $13.5 million.

A 24,000 sq. ft. building built in 1929 at 279 Third Avenue North is currently listed at $5.5 million.

In late 2016, the 64,000 sq. ft. Saskatoon Police Service headquarters on Fourth Avenue sold for $10.7 million. That building was built in 1977.

The sale of the Frances Morrison building comes as the library prepares to begin construction of a new central branch at 301 Second Ave. N. , with a projected cost of $134 million. Site preparation was scheduled to begin on Thursday; a tender to build the structure is scheduled for next year. Construction is also set to start next year, and completion is expected in 2026.

The library has previously released updates on the new building’s design after rounds of public consultation, most recently in January, when it released the schematic designs for the structure.

These have revealed plans for a four-level building meant to evoke a traditional First Nations teepee, with a sloping exterior of modular panels in a basket-weave pattern. The interior timbers are meant to reference a Métis-style log cabin.

The library is expected to deliver a community update on the new central branch project sometime next month.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canad...9044a105196084

[Stormer]

The old building seems like fairly low quality construction for a main library - at least the precast concrete exterior. Also it is only two floors. Is this a tear down?