Regina's Multi-Purpose facility

[Riderfan4life]

I thought this deserved it's own thread. These are exciting times.

Stadium News Conference
The full story courtesy 620 CKRM News:

A domed stadium is the best option for Regina.

That's the finding of a concept study released by the Wall government today. The study recommends a 38 thousand seat facility, expandable to 50 thousand, on the rail yards just north of downtown.

It would cost an estimated 350 million dollars, and would take three to four years to build. A retractable roof is still on the table as well.

Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff says they're now conducting a full feasibility study, which will be completed in January.

"We're committing to having the study in our hands at that time. We'll look at the financial wherewithal of the Province, we'll look at the situation with the federal government, we're not going to commit to rush into anything."

Mayor Pat Fiacco says with the additional development around such a project, like hotels and office space, this is very much about the future of the community.

"I don't want 20 years from now for people to say what were they thinking, why didn't they think about the future? Why are our people leaving? Why are our grandkids leaving? We want people to stay, and others to make Regina their home as well."

Fiacco says a new stadium would also open up the Mosaic Stadium site for an entirely new neighbourhood.

From the Roughriders' stand point, they've made it very clear that staying in Mosaic Stadium as it stands is not an option.

Board Chair Rob Fletch says a new stadium is needed to remain competitive.

"Better seating, not bench seating, theater style seating. Better concession areas, better washrooms, probably more private boxes, club seating. And obviously a domed stadium addresses all of the weather related issues."

The concept study also looked at the redevelopment of Mosaic Stadium, as well as the possibility of building a new open air stadium, but concluded those options would have minimal economic impact on the city.

The Wall government has stated that general revenue fund dollars will not be used in the construction of any new stadium.

Partnerships between private industry and a crown like the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation have been mentioned as options in the past.

http://www.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/adxGet...=876&PN=Shared

[grumpy old man]

Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great. I doubt it'll happen. If it does it'll likely be a very basic, bare-bones facility that may not be well embraced by the fans.

Best build a less expensive open air stadium that won't have to be stripped down to the bare-bones to make it doable.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great. I doubt it'll happen. If it does it'll likely be a very basic, bare-bones facility that may not be well embraced by the fans.

Best build a less expensive open air stadium that won't have to be stripped down to the bare-bones to make it doable.

If they decide on the dome I really don't think it will be half-assed. I don't think the mayor or city would allow such a facility to be built. He's very much into pumping up Regina and really turning Regina around as a city (and it's image)... and honestly, in my opinion, over the years that he's been mayor, he's done a pretty good job.

[Riderfan4life]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great. I doubt it'll happen. If it does it'll likely be a very basic, bare-bones facility that may not be well embraced by the fans.

Best build a less expensive open air stadium that won't have to be stripped down to the bare-bones to make it doable.

Those days are over bud. If you cared to read the link provided, it will be something special. I'm thinking there will be some jealous people around the country when the final design is announced.

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Riderfan4life

Those days are over bud. If you cared to read the link provided, it will be something special. I'm thinking there will be some jealous people around the country when the final design is announced.

You're dreaming in technicolour bud. I doubt you'll be getting the domed retractable Taj Majal you'd like.

However bud as I said in my original post "Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great.".

[Chaps]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

You're dreaming in technicolour bud. I doubt you'll be getting the domed retractable Taj Majal you'd like.

However bud as I said in my original post "Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great.".

Yes because $350 million is cheaping out.

What was the number being thrown around for Asper's stadium? $120Mil? It was in the 100's anyways.

You don't think an extra 200 mil will buy much?

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Chaps

Yes because $350 million is cheaping out.

What was the number being thrown around for Asper's stadium? $120Mil? It was in the 100's anyways.

You don't think an extra 200 mil will buy much?

Sorry for replying so late. I guess I missed your post.

I think you'd be making a mistake comparing the two stadia. A 40,000~ seat domed stadium vs. a 30,000 seat open air stadium is a vastly different engineering feat. And hugely more costlier.

Do note the Fargodome cost $US48 million to build almost twenty years ago on land that was pretty much free. It seats 19,000 for US football games. The CFL field is much bigger.

So if we use a US dollar exchange rate of 20% and a three percent annual inflation rate it would cost more than $104 million dollars to build that stadium today. That ignores the much higher construction costs of today. And you end up with a very plain, vanilla grey box.

To build the Canadian equivalent today but with 40,000 (or 35k or 30k) seats and a much larger field, and expandable to accommodate a Grey Cup every 8 years... Will $350 million do it?

Please note I never said cheaping out or half assed. I did say bare-boned.

[Riderfan4life]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

You're dreaming in technicolour bud. I doubt you'll be getting the domed retractable Taj Majal you'd like.

However bud as I said in my original post "Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great.".

Care to retract your comment? Like I said before, everything is falling into place like most people predicted.There are just too many top people saying this is pretty well done. Can"t wait......exciting times.

For a first drawing, looks pretty "Taj Majal" to me?

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by Riderfan4life

I'm thinking there will be some jealous people around the country when the final design is announced.

Yeah, like those of us in Victoria who had to kick, scratch and claw for years to get a new arena that is only slightly larger than the previous arena and is way smaller than any of the Regina proposals in spite of Victoria being a much larger city.

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

Good luck with this. A domed stadium in Regina would be great. I doubt it'll happen. If it does it'll likely be a very basic, bare-bones facility that may not be well embraced by the fans.

They have been looking at a larger scale version of the Fargodome (which is about all 350million would buy these days in a dome format).. which could also be used for tradeshows, with the potencial to have a hotel linked to it.

[drew]

^ personally, if it's a dome, I won't be jealous.

Domes don't have much viability for the CFL and year-round uses for these facilities (conventions, concerts, etc.) are few and far between.

Not to mention that the costs to heat and cool these facilities in our climate would probably border on the ridiculous.

[Riderfan4life]

Originally Posted by drew

^ personally, if it's a dome, I won't be jealous.

Domes don't have much viability for the CFL and year-round uses for these facilities (conventions, concerts, etc.) are few and far between.

Not to mention that the costs to heat and cool these facilities in our climate would probably border on the ridiculous.

For what it's worth, they're leaning towards "retractable" style of roof. And yes, the possibilities of geothermal cooling/heating have also been discussed. If this is the case, this could be unprecedented to anything we have seen before in North America.

[timewilltell]

exspandable

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by drew

^ personally, if it's a dome, I won't be jealous.

Domes don't have much viability for the CFL and year-round uses for these facilities (conventions, concerts, etc.) are few and far between.

I don't know about that, BC place out here is used quite heavily for trade shows, conventions and other miscellaneous events. It even gets used somewhat frequently for large concerts, despite its atrocious acoustics.

I do imagine the heating bills for the structure would be somewhat large, but if the proper design was put into the dome and base cladding it could be feasible.

[Spocket]

That's nice to hear and I hope Regina gets a great facility but I'm not so sure this is really a viable option.
If somebody wants to spend the money well okay , it's their money but in terms of how much use this thing will get and increase its chances of being successful , I just can't see that happening.

[ceedub1170]

It will probably take away a few concerts that the MTS usually gets. You'll have to head down the Number 1 for the big events because they may just bypass Winnipeg for a better venue.

Originally Posted by Spocket

That's nice to hear and I hope Regina gets a great facility but I'm not so sure this is really a viable option.
If somebody wants to spend the money well okay , it's their money but in terms of how much use this thing will get and increase its chances of being successful , I just can't see that happening.

[sask1982]

I'm probably not even going to check this thread if all it's going to be is people bickering back and forth about whether or not the stadium will be built.
BTW: I'm on the "it's gonna happen" train

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by ceedub1170

It will probably take away a few concerts that the MTS usually gets. You'll have to head down the Number 1 for the big events because they may just bypass Winnipeg for a better venue.

Not likely. I don't think promoters choose venues based upon which city has a nicer building.

Let's not make this a Winnipeg vs. Regina debate. Let's just discuss the viability of the new stadium.

@ sask1982... I'm afraid you're living in a fantasy land if you really believe a debate on such a facility won't include those on both sides of the debate.

Personally I'd love to see you folks get that stadium. I just don't believe a domed stadium is in the cards for Regina.

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by ceedub1170

It will probably take away a few concerts that the MTS usually gets. You'll have to head down the Number 1 for the big events because they may just bypass Winnipeg for a better venue.

Highly unlikely.
With a domed stadium there are no guarantees of attracting certain shows just because it's winter. Most of the big acts do their touring in the summer anyway but what's more important is the market. Regina only makes sense for bands like The Rolling Stones and AC/DC. The reason for this is because these are world-class acts with actual 'world' tours. Bands like that will only make so many stops in any given country and because of that , most of the audience is not going to be from the host-city anyway. In that case , it makes as much sense to choose a venue in the middle of Saskatchewan as it does to put it in Lethbridge or Brandon. Everybody is making a trip to attend anyway.
Successful but not actually "world" class acts just don't need forty thousand seats but if they do , Regina won't usually make the cut over Winnipeg. It has little to do with the facility in either case but Winnipeg has a new , proven venue in the MTS Center so to compete against that would require something considerably better in Regina. It's just simple demographics at that point....Regina is less than a third the size of Winnipeg and the Regina hinterland has even fewer people by comparison.

None of this is to be taken as a "Regina's not good enough" statement. On the contrary , I very much hope that Regina gets a great facility whether it be a dome or otherwise. It could be successful , I'm not saying it can't be. I'm just saying that considering the market , the climate , and every other factor that I can think of , it just doesn't seem like a financially viable idea. I wouldn't invest in it not because it's in Regina (I wouldn't invest in a dome for Winnipeg either) but because it would cost a fortune just to maintain and posting in the black at the end of the year seems like a pipe-dream.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Someone somewhere had mentioned geo-thermal alternatives for the heating/cooling which would be a great idea for the facility.

I'm sure the mayor will ensure the stadium is as nice as the I <3 Regina sculpture in front of city hall.