Marquis Downs

With horse races no longer taking place at Marquis Downs, Prairieland Park is asking permission to remove the track, demolish the grandstand and barns, and replace it with a large, gravel parking lot. 

If approved, the project wouldn’t cost the City any money, as Prairieland has agreed to foot the bill. Chris Hill with Prairieland Park admits that the parking lot would only be a temporary fixture, as is being done to develop a master plan for the area by 2026.  

Council Jasmin Parker questioned the act of demolishing a site before having a plan in place for the new one.  

“You have lease of that land because you provide amenities to the city, and a gravel parking lot is very uninspiring. I just hope to see a master plan or a vision come back to us.”

The project would avoid altering the wetlands inside and to the south of the racetrack, as they provide for the collection of stormwaters for the easterly portion of Prairieland.  Prairieland and City Administration are also discussing the use and redevelopment of Sports on Tap. Options will be considered at a future Public Hearing. 

The request was approved by the Committee on Planning, Development, and Community Services at Wednesday’s meeting, but City Council must give the final green light before any demolition work takes place. 

 Former Extra Foods

An unnamed Saskatchewan company is looking to construct a 14-storey multi-use building at 906 Broadway Ave in Nutana, the site of the former Extra Foods.  

To make the project possible, the company has applied for $1.6 million 5-year tax abatement through the Vacant Lot and Adaptive Reuse Incentive Program, which was also approved by the Committee on Planning, Development, and Community Services at Wednesday’s meeting.  

Melissa Austin, Saskatoon’s neighborhood planning manager, says the building would feature 124 residential units, three levels of above-ground parking, and a ground-floor commercial space, which will not function as a replacement grocery store.  However, the thought was there. 

“It’s our understanding that through the planning phase of the project, the developer ownership group did reach out to a number of grocery retailers, and there was no interest in the site itself, ” she explains.

If City Council also approves the tax-abatement, construction is expected to be complete by 2027.  

Smoking Control Bylaw

Saskatoon’s Mayor is taking steps to make the city’s smoking bylaw more restrictive. 

Cynthia Block proposed a motion at Wednesday’s Planning, Development, and Community Services meeting that asks administration to report back on its ability to make the existing bylaw stricter by setting back smoking distances from doors, patios, playgrounds and other public areas; prohibit smoking on sidewalks next to smoke-free zones; and tightening the rules regarding smoking in outdoor common areas of multi-unit residential buildings, such as entrances and shared courtyards. 

The report also needs to investigate the bylaws present in other Canadian cities, and how these changes would affect those with disabilities.  

The motion was passed unanimously and will now be put before City Council.