A preliminary funding strategy for Saskatoon’s proposed Downtown Event and Entertainment District will take a bit longer than expected. The strategy was first expected last November, but then was delayed to early this year and now it’s expected this summer.

Director of Technical Services, Dan Willems reported to the Governance and Priorities Committee that interested private partners have requested more time for their proposals. The deadline for the Request for Proposals was to be March 22nd and now it will be late April.

Willems says the goal is to bring forward a budget estimate and preliminary funding strategy at the same time as the results of the private partner procurement, so financial implications of the partnership can be considered. He expects negotiations with a partner would take about 60 days, which means reporting back in June or July. Should negotiations require more time, Administration will report back on a budget estimate and preliminary funding strategy in July, followed by a report on the results of the negotiations with a private partner.

There were no questions from the committee, which includes the Mayor and all of the Councillors, and the request for more time was approved.