Saskatoon Minute: Issue 92

Saskatoon Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Saskatoon politics

📅 This Week In Saskatoon: 📅

• Merry Christmas! We hope you had a wonderful day with family, friends, and food! Thank you to every single one of our readers and supporters who reached out, donated, volunteered, or shared our content this year. We appreciate every single one of you and hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
  
  
• We usually reserve these weekly updates for sharing news and analysis, but as the year comes to a close, we want to be upfront with you. Our year-end fundraising campaign is underway, with a target of $20,000 to be met by December 31st. This funding is essential to sustaining our operations and allowing us to carry our work into the new year. If you find our work valuable and want to help ensure it continues, we’d be grateful if you would consider making a contribution. Even a modest gift makes a meaningful difference. You can donate by clicking here, and we sincerely thank you for being part of this effort.
  
  
• Saskatoon’s landmark Bessborough Hotel will undergo a significant renovation beginning in January, marking one of the most substantial upgrades in its nearly 90-year history. Built in 1935, the castle-style hotel on the South Saskatchewan River will be rebranded under Marriott Bonvoy Autograph Collection, a move expected to elevate the city’s hospitality offerings. The hotel is scheduled to close from May 2026 to September 2026, with a grand reopening anticipated the following winter. Renovations will preserve the building’s historic architecture while modernizing all 225 guest rooms, the lobby, and roughly 18,000 square feet of event space. Plans also include a new restaurant, bar, and fitness facility, as well as a curated historical display highlighting the hotel’s past.
  
  
• A new women’s warming centre has opened in Saskatoon’s Riversdale neighbourhood just days before Christmas, located at 325 Avenue C South beside the Salvation Army’s Crossroads Residential Services shelter. The centre, operated by the Saskatoon Tribal Council in a renovated former restaurant, replaces a temporary site at the old bus terminal on 23rd Street. Local business leaders, including the Riversdale Business Improvement District (BID), have expressed frustration over the lack of consultation and transparency, noting that the location raises safety concerns and may harm existing businesses. While the BID supports housing initiatives, they argue that concentrating services in the Riversdale business area is problematic and calls for more proactive city planning. City officials say a safety plan is in place, covering surrounding streets, with weekly meetings to monitor and adjust as needed. Councillors emphasized that homelessness services need to be more evenly distributed across the city rather than concentrated in one area. 
  
  
• Parking in Saskatoon will be free on New Year’s Day, as it is on Sundays and statutory holidays. Normally, metered parking in areas like Downtown, Broadway, Riversdale, River Landing, Sutherland, and near St. Paul’s and Saskatoon City Hospitals is enforced from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Saturday. 

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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