Hello everyone, my name is Charlie Clark and I am the Saskatoon Mayor. I first started working Downtown 19 years ago in the Avenue building at Saskatoon Community Mediation Services. In 2006 I became the City Councillor representing the Downtown and so I’ve had a pretty good front-row seat to life in the heart of the city here in Treaty 6 territory and the Traditional Homeland of the Metis people.

Some memories of Downtown for me include the first time I took my daughter to get her ears pierced at Schmatta, family suppers at Taverna, buying a suit for my first city budget at Elwood Flynn, epic summer nights in Bessborough Gardens for the Jazz Festival, lighting the Midtown Christmas Tree with Santa, winter staycations our family have had at the Sheraton followed by a skate on the Meewasin rink. Pouring out of TCU Place after a great performance with hundreds of people. Watching the Fireworks Festival at River Landing with thousands of people, the hum of food trucks, kids with glow lights everywhere, and the Remai Modern glowing like a lantern in the background.

I have always believed that Saskatoon’s Downtown has the best ‘bones’ of any Downtown on the Prairies. The walkable scale of our streets, the rhythm of the small storefronts, the access to the River, the direct connection to surrounding neighbourhoods, the Bessborough Hotel and Midtown Plaza as anchors.

The other big thing that makes me love our Downtown is all of the local stores and restaurants and organizations that bring it to life. Our Downtown isn’t just buildings and streets, it is the people and the stories behind the desks and counters who make our Downtown what it is. These places come from the vision and hard work of people right here in our city.

Now we live in a time when we get to shape the future of the Downtown for the next century with some big projects in the works: the Downtown Festival site, the new Central Library, the Bus Rapid Transit System, the Downtown Event and Entertainment District and Meewasin Trail improvements. The Downtown is the heart of the city, thank you to everyone who is working to keep that heart beating and strong.