Stopped by Regina the other day driving to my new job, finally got to lay eyes on what the Downtown discussion's been about lately.
The pedway between Conexus and FCC is quite well setback from the 12 Av and Hamilton St corner - I was kind of worried it was going to block the sculpture when I heard about it.
The Leader building looks like it's coming along. It's great that the "Leader Building" detail was so well-preserved behind the previous facades. Hopefully this will turn out well; the rendering is kind of dull at streetfront, but at least it's consistent with the building character.
That parkade wall, a parkade wall as it is, actually looks salvageable. It seems like a neat concept:
Of course actual storefronts or a patio would've been appropriate over a parkade, but it could actually turn out pretty neat with real trees along Broad St. Are they putting some on the north wall too, facing the alley? The view of the north wall by southbound traffic (which, of course, will be actually
more visible to passing cars than the east wall) definitely needs more than just that paint job.
The bus station across the street looks promising - I can't say I've ever seen many bus stations, but I think ours will look great:
And of course:
Well. I guess it pretty much speaks for itself. Terrible. I didn't realise how deeply set back they made that parking lot - I was hoping if they were going to the trouble of building the parkade in back, they would try to minimise the front lot and preserve the street face. Poor show.
A while ago someone posted a construction photo of a bank on the Vic Av E strip, with a glass box that I thought would've been a better choice Downtown. I still think so:
It's got glass, and real stone, even on the back walls facing the access road! Kudos to TCU for putting some effort into their building. Kind of harkens back to the days when banks built proper structures to convey a sense of stability and trust to customers. If I were there I'd think of switching my BMO accounts (and their crappy strip mall branch I have to use) to TCU, just for the design.
And there's that new Chili's, buried under the Vic Av E traffic, joining the East Side Mario's and Houston Pizza etc. Sucks that the City doesn't just make Downtown the new
"restaurant destination" instead of the east end. Imagine the patio scene that Regina could've had, say on Hamilton St/Broad St/11 Av, if they built restaurants there instead of Broad St Crossing.
Also, the condos by the Kinsmen garden:
The original rendering specified some stonework and masonry mosaic/pattern work, but apparently the developer de-contented the project:
Too bad, it was such a great location, and the blank wall facing Regina Av would've been perfect for some integrated facade art. Being next to the park, a design bylaw could've been used to enforce a proper standard. Would've just been a matter of using different coloured tiles, no actual increased material cost. Hopefully everyone who bought into it based on the original plan won't be too mad - or, hopefully they will, and they'll come up with some design additions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SASKFTW
How do you Regina members feel about the following blog entry...
Source
Granted it's the Taxpayers Federation, but do Reginan's feel money could be better spent elsewhere in the city on other cultural and recreational that will have a more direct impact on Reginan's.
If I lived in Regina I'd probably be all for a new stadium, but not at the expense of other facilities/commitments. |
I posted something
similar earlier - the City's report and that blog entry are consistent with what's already been proven in the US, that government investment in professional sports facilities benefit only the teams, but not the community or taxpayers at large. There's many other essential services with definite wider benefits that would be better choices for a big capital investment, eg water treatment, schools, transit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Migs
When people think of Regina, they think of the Riders. So a blog report by the Canadian taxpayers association does little to sway the majority of folks whom think Canada's Team should have a home that reflects its reputation from coast to coast. Cities all around the world have quality stadiums, why shouldn't the home of the most popular CFL franchise?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skphc08
Lets face it here. Government necessitates astounding amounts of bureaucracy and the associated wasted money. A stadium project of $80-100 million is peanuts compared to what has been wasted since Taylor Field was built in the 20s.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by darthrider
I for one am not concerned if some of my tax dollars go to a new stadium. I have seen my tax dollars blown on Spudco and that pulp mill in P.A just to name a few off the top of my head.... and these ventures cost us hundreds of millions. Those ventures were of no benefit to anyone as they went under so you can't even say that even a few jobs were created.
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None of these points change the fact that a publicly-funded stadium won't actually benefit the public. Just because the Government made bad investments in the past doesn't mean you should encourage them to waste more - it means they should be more careful, not less.
I think among these posts there's just a misunderstanding of the point of government and taxation and public funding: it's not to pay for things that people simply
want, but what they need and would actually benefit from. Even if a majority of people wanted it, a responsible government would have to reject funding something of no or little proven benefit.
Like the
original blog says, "it's the Roughriders, their corporate sponsors, and their fans (like me) who would benefit the most from a stadium expansion, and, therefore, should bear the burden of the costs involved".
Quote:
Originally Posted by darthrider
ISo if we aren't going to get a new stadium I hope that the powers that be will stop talking and get to work on upgrading what we have. Material and labour is not getting any cheaper, look at Moose Jaw all the debating over the new arena, the cost has doubled on that proposed project and in only 3 short years.
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The best time to build would actually be not now, but at the next recession, when there's less heat on the construction industry and labour will be cheaper to get. (Actually, if construction unemployment shot up and Government needed to act, a new stadium would be a great make-work project - now
that could be a worthwhile use of public funds.)
Speaking of questionable uses of government funds:
That free wireless Internet service Downtown - it really works! I question whether it's actually delivered any important public benefit though. Businesspeople would already have email on their Blackberries, and cafes and stores would offer wireless themselves if they thought it would improve business. I guess workers who want to visit YouTube or facebook (or skyscraperpage) when their office blocks it on the company Internet can get around using the government service instead.
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