Staff at SaskTel Centre say facility nearing end of life

When SaskTel Centre opened as Saskatchewan Place in 1988, the new concrete arena north of Saskatoon was a jewel on the prairies.

After hosting legendary acts from Elton John to Garth Brooks and championship moments like the 1991 World Juniors, SaskTel Centre has seen it all in its 35 years.

However, the staff are worried those lasting memories could soon end as the facility ages out.

"It's hard to say what the end of useful life is, but we're starting to hear promoters and our teams say, 'Geez this isn't adequate,'" SaskTel Centre CEO John Howden said.

Arena staff offered a unique perspective for the public as they hosted a series of free one-hour tours on Monday to show curious patrons the aging facility, and the many issues that have compounded as workaround renovations have made best use of the space.

The arena was originally designed for hockey in mind with a capacity crowd of 7,800. A few renovations have increased capacity to 15,100. Finding more room for patrons squeezed space for staff.

There are shared portable toilets for part-time staff working an event, a change room was converted to a kitchen prep space and there's only one standard sized elevator in the building that doesn't go further than the second level stands.

There's no space to add more bathrooms and kitchen areas are more akin to a small town hockey rink than the province's largest indoor arena. Simply put, the arena is too old to attract the acts it used to, and Howden is concerned if that trend continues, the live event industry will suffer greatly.

"Some of these big concert tours roll in with 20 semi-trailers full of equipment, and so from that technical standpoint and what the fans are looking for, we felt like we needed to do something," Howden said, referencing conversations with the city eight years ago.

"At that time we said: 'look, we either need to look at a very extensive renovation or we need to look at building something new downtown.' Council settled on something new downtown."

Saskatoon's city council has made significant steps to clear the way for a new arena and entertainment district recently.

Last year, council chose the north parking lot of Midtown mall as the preferred location, and has since spent millions of dollars buying property around the lot.

In November, council will vote to approve a concept design and funding plan that could essentially approve the project if funding goals can be met.

Howden is a believer in the benefits of a downtown arena.

"I do think that the spinoffs from a downtown entertainment district will be very substantial as far as what it will do for the businesses," he said.

One of the larger issues for the arena is the low roof. With only 52 feet of clearance — roughly half of what new arenas have — from the rafters to the floor, some large tours are avoiding Saskatoon, or have to arrive a day early to custom rig all the necessary set pieces and equipment.

Howden said Shania Twain, Nickelback and All Elite Wrestling all recently had to show up a day early to custom rig all the necessary set pieces and equipment. If the arena was booked on that day, those shows would have had to cancel.

"The facility is definitely holding us back. I'm blown at how the management is making use of every nook and cranny and every little space work," Darcie Garvel, who took one of the tours, said.

"I kind of anticipated the building is still in good condition, and I was reaffirmed as such," said Les Sicherman, another fellow tourist.

It's not very often the public is invited to a tour where staff highlight the shortcomings of their own workplace, and with no guarantees of being hired on at the new arena should it be built, Howden isn't worried about talking himself out of a job.

"I think we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't point them out," he said. "My team here cares so much about the live entertainment business."