Station 20 West To Proceed On Smaller Scale

Friday, April 25, 2008 at 15:15

 

 

Station 20 West is now being redesigned in order to deal with lost government funding.

 

The original cost of the project was going to be more than $11 million — now it’s being projected at about $2.6 million.

 

The revised plan still calls for a grocery store, cafe, and community kitchen — but without all of the health services originally slated to go in the building.

 

Now Station 20 West is beginning a fundraising campaign.

 

So far, it has raised around $300,000 in donations from individuals and organizations — including a cheque for $40,000 from Dean Jones and Ev Burnett, two Saskatoon residents and educators.

 

Burnett says it’s important every area in the city is healthy.

 

More than 140 cheques totalling $20,000 have been given to the project since a march in support of it at the beginning of the month.

 

With money from businesses, the project has raised just over $1 million so far.

 

Station 20 West will go ahead as long as it’s granted an extension from Saskatoon City Council on Monday.

 

The city required something be built by September.

 

Meanwhile, a former president of the Riversdale Community Association says Aboriginal people and organizations were always welcome to be a part of the project.

 

Vernon Linklater sat on the Station 20 West board for a couple of years.

 

He was responding to questions about the Saskatoon Tribal Council supporting the Saskatchewan Party government’s decision to pull funding to the project because STC says it wasn’t properly consulted.

 

Linklater says sometimes it’s up to community members to get involved and inform their leaders, because those leaders are really busy with their own responsibilities.

 

Linklater says Station 20 West has always had an open policy with all community-based organizations in the city, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike.

 

He says, in the end, everyone needs to work together so that the needs of the community members are met.