Starting Thursday Saskatoon residents are invited to share their thoughts regarding the proposed Downtown Event & Entertainment District.

Dan Willems, Director of Technical Services says input from the community along with research and funding considerations, will be incorporated in the development of the District Plan and conceptual designs for the Downtown event centre/arena and convention centre.

The City of Saskatoon says Stantec, HOK and LMN have been hired to create conceptual designs for the new event centre/arena and convention centre, as well as the surrounding outdoor spaces.

There is an online public survey, Pop-up “storefronts” at malls and other convenient locations where residents can stop by and talk to city staff providing feedback through worksheets or the online survey. There will be community led workshops as well.

Public engagement is open until May 18.

In December, Saskatoon city council unanimously approved spending an additional $17 million to buy three properties near the site of a proposed event centre downtown. Council previously approved $25 million to buy the north parking lot of Midtown shopping centre as the future home of the city’s new arena and entertainment district.