As much as I think having a children's centre (SP Nov. 28/11) incorporating the museum, theatre and festival is a nice concept, I doubt that it is financially viable on the long term without public funding. Children's museums across the country struggle to survive and they have a much larger market to draw from.
If we weren't so deep in debt already I might buy into having some portion of the project funded, but not a this point. Unless the business plan proves otherwise and they can reasonably project sufficient monies to maintain the services and renovate to suit their needs, I would be inclined to take a pass. Otherwise we will be paying to support the Mendel building and the new gallery.
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Chidrens museums are gaining popularity and are one of the attractions people look at when evaluating relocating to a community for work. It is not only the only proposal for the Mendel building when it becomes vacant but also has quite a viable plan considering the partners involved. Even the Mendel decentors should embrace the Discovery Museum plan considering the rather nice statue of old Fred Mendel with a small child in the Park across from the former LaBatt site. In light of the new Kinsmen Park plan for more family usage of the park, improved rides, facilities and accessability the transformation of the adjacent former gallery into a Childrens Discovery Museum would seem like a natural
ReplyDeleteIt would seem like a natural but should not be considered unless it can prove to be financially viable on its own.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of the taxpayers we are sick of being led down a path of debt. While the museum to me sounds like a wonderful idea, we need to start making some decision based on our financial situation. Sadly the current admin has done a bad job of squandering any available resources that before we commit to more we need a plan to get out of this mess.
Good idea at a bad time for Saskatoon. Unless they are paying premium property taxes on that space and are completely self sustaining Council should turn elsewhere.
Come on man,
ReplyDeleteWe all know this project will be a drain on the public purse. Why else would the proponents of the project need the city to approve them moving ahead to more detailed planning? I doubt an outside private company would go to the city ask permission to do any study or evaluation on wanting to rent the facility.
This group is definitely looking for the local taxpayer to fund their expansion. Sorry when my taxes are already going to be going up higher than the rate of inflation I don't need another group looking for a hand out.