A Brief History on Place Riel

Place Riel Student Centre: The Early Years

The evolution of the Place Riel Student Centre’s development from concept to reality is a long and colourful story. Fraught by a seemingly endless string of failed plans, the search for a facility large enough to meet the demands of a growing university occurred over several decades. Finally constructed and opened in 1981 Place Riel Student Centre is now scheduled for extensive renovation. The story of this expansion and renovation is one of cooperation, compromise, ingenuity, hard work, and dedication.

The origin of the Place Riel Student Centre can be traced back to the 1950s and 60s, when student groups struggled to provide basic services from the cozy confines of the University’s Memorial Union Building (MUB). Finally in 1964, the Student Representative Council (SRC – soon to be University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union or USSU) established a committee to examine possible expansion to the MUB. While this idea was eventually shelved, the suggestion that it was necessary to construct new student centre building was gradually given increased attention and credibility.

Following a study indicating that most Canadian campuses already had a student centre building, the USSU began to lobby the University of Saskatchewan’s Board of Governors to permit construction of a student centre on our campus. While committees were struck to study the feasibility of a new building, the USSU held a referendum asking students if they would pay an annual $12 fee to construct a $4.1 million, 156,000 square foot building ready for use by 1969. The students voted strongly for the proposal (approximately 70% in support), and plans were drawn up for the new facility which would be named “Place Riel.”

Place Riel: The Formative Years

However, in the months following project approval, a provincial election was called, and in 1971, the New Democratic Party (NDP) defeated the incumbent Liberal government. The project’s government funding was frozen by the NDP, who instead ordered that a report be done examining how the University was using its campus space, including identifying the specific needs which would be met in the student facility. Soon afterward another planning committee was struck and a recommendation was made that an existing building, Marquis Hall, be converted into a campus centre.

In 1973, the SRC gave its official blessing to the Marquis Hall conversion project. It finally appeared that the project was on track. However, the University’s Board of Governors refused their approval, wanting first to receive yet another extensive student survey in order to better gauge what the space needs were. In the meantime, the University focused on the construction of another building, the Diefenbaker Centre, which took the Student Centre initiative off centre stage.

As the process dragged out, tensions developed between the USSU and Administration – and the project was soon floundering amid arguments about bursaries, scholarships, and even which banking institution would be allowed to occupy space in a campus centre. Finally in 1974, the Place Riel Student Centre Committee, and the Board of Governors gave approval for a Marquis Hall conversion. The project was finally ready to go – or was it?

With the conversion project officially approved, money needed to convert the facility became an issue. High inflation, spurred by an energy crisis during the mid 1970s, also resulted in skyrocketing building costs, and the construction budget doubled from $4.87 million to just under $10 million. By 1976, however, the provincial government indicated that it would cover the funding gap to the tune of $7.5 million, with the USSU contributing $2.88 million, and the Board of Governors pitching in $250,000. The project appeared to have solved its financing issues.

That was, until the provincial government suddenly reversed its funding commitment, and slashed its contribution to $3.6 million. This dramatic cut, resulting in a project shortfall of nearly $7 million, essentially ended the conversion project, and for the time being, the dream of a student centre.

With another plan on the scrap heap, yet another push was made to build a student facility. In 1977, a proposal was approved for a scaled-down Centre to be built between the University’s main library and Qu’Appelle Hall (located next to Marquis Hall). A terminus, now known as Upper Place Riel, would be constructed, while the existing Memorial Union Building would be extensively renovated, with a pub built in the lower level of the building, and student office spaces made available in the building’s ground floor. In April of 1977, the Board of Governors gave its approval to the plan, and unlike previous ventures, a call for tenders was made. Finally the Place Riel Student Centre, at least in some form, was set to become a reality.

Place Riel: The Construction to the Present

Following the call for tenders, construction on the building and renovations began in earnest. The Place Riel Student Centre was officially opened on July 3, 1981, and the renovated MUB was unveiled in September of that year.

However, in the years following the opening of the new Centre, it became increasingly clear that the facility did not serve the needs of a growing student population. The scaled-down facility had sacrificed much from the original plans for a Centre as conceived in the 1960s and early 1970s. Absent from the new facility was space for a campus radio station, campus newspaper, a bank, student lounge, retail facilities, and a conference area – all of which had existed in the original concept. The much sought-after pub was now housed in the basement of the MUB, while a theatre complex was appended away from Place Riel itself, in the Arts Building. While it was better than nothing, Place Riel found itself bursting at the seams even as it opened for the first time.

As the years passed, the demands and pressures for an expansion to Place Riel grew. During the later part of the 1990s, a study was conducted to examine the viability of expanding the facility to accommodate better student services including a student lounge, a volunteer centre, a student Council chamber, an Aboriginal centre, a pharmacy, and expanded retail and food outlets. By 2000, the study resulted in an expansion plan that hinged on raising at least $20 million in funding.

As in the past, financing became a major obstacle. The 2000 plan was revised and a scaled-down renovation plan was presented and approved in 2002, where the existing building would be modified and slightly expanded to accommodate a Health and Wellness Centre, as well as expanded student office and retail space. Even with scaled-down expansion plans, attempts to raise public and private dollars proved unsuccessful, and by 2002, all plans and hopes for expansion were once again in hiatus.

And yet still, efforts continued to find a solution. In 2003, a campus-wide student survey was conducted to better define what students desired from an expanded Place Riel Student Centre. The student responses were largely the same as all previous studies reported – a desire for expanded retail spaces, and an improved place to buy and eat food. By 2005, the USSU put forward yet another plan for an expansion to the Place Riel Student Centre.

In early 2007, recognizing that the USSU could never save sufficient money to get ahead of constructions costs, University Students' Council approved the implementation of a student fee of $44 per student per term over 30 years to fund the capital needed to renovate and expand to Place Riel, as it is envisioned today. Collection of this fee was approved by the Board of Governors in the same year and in the spring of 2008 First Nations/TD Canada Trust was chosen as the financial institution which would lend the money for the project. Also in the spring of 2008 the University asked for a partnership in order to create an additional two floors on the expansion of Place Riel, proposed to occupy the space between Marquis Hall and the Murray Building. Working together, the USSU and the University anticipate breaking ground for the expanded and renovated Place Riel Student Centre in December of 2008 with an occupation date of 2010.

Want to know more? Check out the Place Riel expansion virtual drawings and view the current state and future renovations of Place Riel on this website.