Decorative alley lights cost Saskatoon taxpayers nearly $100K

A decorative display in a Saskatoon back alley cost taxpayers nearly $100,000.

Leslie Anderson, the city's director of planning and development said the total cost of the 21st Street back alley lights project shared by the city added up to $99,985.77.

"The lighting is also supported financially -- for the installation and ongoing electrical costs -- by entrepreneurs who work hard every day keeping downtown an attractive and viable business area," Anderson said in a statement to CTV News. "They create jobs and opportunities which keep the tax base healthy to provide the services we all depend upon. The city will always support those goals."

Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayer Federation and shared with CTV News shows how bills associated with the light display in the alley that runs from O’Shea’s Pub on 2nd Avenue South to the Hotel Senator on 3rd Avenue South.

Bluetooth lights were invoiced at nearly $3,500. The orbs that encased the bulbs cost more than $19,000 and nearly $54,000 was billed by a local electrical company to hook up and install the decorations.

"That's a lot of money to begin with for any type of public art project," said Gage Haubrich, prairie director with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "But when you see that it's basically going to light up dumpsters in a back alley, it kind of makes you think what the city was thinking on this project."

The news release announcing the art installation in December, 2022, the "programmable fiberglass mesh light ‘orbs’" were meant to illuminate "these spaces like never before."

“This one-of-a-kind lighting project invites residents and tourists to visit spaces less travelled and discover a side of the city they might have never seen before," Anderson said in the news release.

Haubrich pointed to the idea of tourists seeking out a back alley as an unusual reason for spending taxpayer dollars.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly attracted to back alleys filled with dumpsters on the best of days, and I don't know if making them change colours is going to help out that much," he said.

In general, Haubrich feels the money could have been saved, but if the city was looking to spend the money, he feels it could have been better used as part of the city's more costly projects on the horizon, like the downtown library or the downtown event and entertainment district where the city hopes to build an arena.

"They voted to go into debt a couple weeks ago over a snow dump," Haubrich said of the city's decision to take out a loan to cover the anticipated $20 million snow removal costs.

"The city's kind of spending a lot right now, and this $90,000 on some back alley light balls to cover up dumpsters is not a good symptom of the problem."

The total cost of the project was $130,674, with the Downtown Business Improvement District and a few businesses contributing $30,688.

The city said the project came from consultations with the public in 2018, which noted the city's downtown back alleys and how they could be safer, brighter and more inviting.