More than 56 years of history is coming to an end with the demolition of Marquis Downs. The destruction of the racecourse at Prairieland Park was approved by Saskatoon city council Wednesday morning. “We’re doing it all in a month without any public consultation,” Cary Tarasoff, a frequent critic of city council, said at Wednesday’s meeting. “What’s the rush? Where’s everybody going?” Prairieland, the non-profit corporation which leases city land for $100 every year under a 50-year agreement which ends in 2045 and can be renewed until 2065, needed council’s permission to move forward with its plans. Those plans include removing the track and demolishing the grandstand and horse barns. City administration says those buildings are past their “serviceable life.” It may not be exactly as how Joni Mitchell’s 1970 hit " Big Yellow Taxi" lyrics describes — “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” — since no asphalt is part of the plan. Instead, Prairieland will make the area a gravel lot for the time being. “Why do we need a parking lot so urgently?” Tarasoff said. The decision puts an end to five years of inactivity at the site which has been overtaken by vegetation due to neglect. After 51 years, the horse racing season was first cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the horse racing community, which kept the area active every weekend from May until October, was saddened to see council seal the track’s fate Wednesday. “It’s a dagger through the heart of equine sport that the grandstand and track are being destroyed and reduced to a gravel parking lot,” the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association said in a statement. “Shame on you, Prairieland.” In 2021, Living Sky Sports and Entertainment eyed Marquis Downs as the future home of a Canadian Premier League soccer team, citing a surge in the sport’s popularity. The following year, the group revealed plans for a new $28 million stadium, which planned to use the existing grandstand for some of its seating. Tarasoff wondered how in two years the grandstand went from being part of a new stadium build to becoming useless buildings in need of destruction. “Have some public engagement,” he said. “A parking lot isn’t urgently required. You can fence around the barn if it’s caving.” Plans to build the stadium were eventually scrapped when funding couldn’t be secure amid rising construction costs and inflation. Living Sky was then sued for breach of contract when a former partner looking to bring professional soccer to Saskatoon believed he was being cut out of a deal. As for consultation, city solicitor Cindy Yelland said the city’s lease agreement with Prairieland doesn’t have a mechanism to require any engagement with the public. “While this is kind of framed sort of like zoning language, under the lease, this is not a zoning application,” she told council. “There is no requirement for public consultation, and there’s nothing under the lease that would allow us to force Prairieland to have public consultation about this issue.” Ward 3 Coun. Rob Pearce is hoping more can be done with the area in the future. “I’m looking at this and I’m unimpressed with a parking lot,” he said. “But I realize there may be more staging this.” Prairieland hopes to be back before council sometime next year with a comprehensive plan for the former racecourse area. Administration is also having discussions about redeveloping Sports On Tap.
