Regina’s new stadium to put city "on the international stage" (with video)
Natascia Lypny, The Leader-Post May 22, 2014
REGINA - There’s at least one similarity between Regina’s new football stadium and the city’s current facility: the name.
On Thursday, the City of Regina released the first look at the designs for the new $278-million stadium, which will be called Mosaic Stadium after the company that shares its name extended its 20-year naming rights deal.
Outside of that carry-over, the new stadium will be a “completely different experience,” said Mayor Michael Fougere.
The design involves a sunken lower bowl (which will cover 68 per cent of the stadium’s 33,000 seats), a translucent spectator roof, an open south end zone, individual seats (with backs, armrests and cup holders) and a general admission lounge on the west side.
Climatic response is a key component of the design, with the building constructed to cut down on cold northwest winds that can sweep the current stadium with a bitter chill.
Seating will be expandable to 40,000, and lounges and concourses will be available on non-event days. For the first time, people will be able to walk the entire concourse in one loop.
The designer behind the new stadium, Mark Williams of HKS Architects, said the stadium compares “pound for pound” with the company’s other projects, which include three NFL stadiums: Lucas Oil, AT&T and the under-construction Minnesota Multipurpose.
Williams said he was introduced to Rider Nation five years ago when he attended a Saskatchewan Roughriders game in Regina. While designing, he kept the interests and passion of the fan base close at heart, hoping to convey the “raw energy” of Rider Nation in the build.
Although the Credit Union EventPlex, where the design announcement was made, was speckled with the green and white garb of eager Rider fans, Fougere was quick to emphasize that the stadium is more than the home of the Riders; it’s the “catalyst” of the Regina Revitalization Initiative, the city’s largest redevelopment project to date.
“This is the first in the larger puzzle of developing all of downtown.”
Kevin Doherty, minister of parks, culture and sport, was singing the same tune. He extolled the stadium’s role as a premier event-hosting location that will hopefully act as a tourism magnet.
“It puts us on the international stage.”
It’s the kind of transformation for Evraz Place CEO Mark Allan never thought he’d see on the grounds.
Allan said the facility is not only aesthetically pleasing but also offers loading docks and space for catering. He is also encouraged by the improvements to the parking lots — including 100 more spaces — and lighting on the property.
The Riders won’t be the only ones featured on the stadium turf. In July, Sask Sport signed a $75-million, 30-year lease agreement with the city for 10,000 square feet of office space and access to the field for 600 hours a year.
“It’s just going to be a real treat to be in a first-class facility like that and give our amateur athletes a real good opportunity to perform their best,” said Paul Barnby, assistant general manager at Sask Sport.
Not everyone was thrilled with the stadium announcement, though. Colin Craig, prairie director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, denounced the project’s $278-million cost. That’s $80 million from the provincial government; $73 million from the City of Regina; another $100 million covered through a provincial loan to the city; and $25 million from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“Governments can always spend taxpayers’ money and come up with wonderful-looking designs for projects,” Craig said. “Our concern is always in terms of the process. And in this case, taxpayers weren’t given the opportunity to, at the very least, vote on the stadium proposal.”
The City of Regina has signed a fixed price contract with PCL Construction, meaning that cost overruns and delays will fall on the company.
Because of this contract and the strict financing and schedule conditions of the project, the detailed plans for the construction will be made concurrently with the build.
Excavation and piling is set to begin in the next two months. The stadium is expected to be mostly completed by August 2016.
By the numbers, and compared to other new Canadian stadiums:
Mosaic Stadium (Regina)
Cost: $278.2 million
Seating capacity: 33,000 (expandable to 40,000)
Construction timeline: 2014 to 2017
Restrooms: 38 (861 fixtures)
Elevators: 9
Sunken playing field: 11 metres deep; 300,000 cubic metres of excavated soil (equivalent to 110 olympic sized swimming pools).
Canopy: covers 50 to 60 per cent of seats
Stadium size: 48,483 square metres
Video boards: 2
Longest row of seats: 28
Entrance points: 5
Sets of ramps: 2
Concession points of sale: 200
Seat size: 50 to 60 centimetres wide
Luxury suites: 2 levels (38 suites, 610 seats in total)
Field orientation: North-south
Investors Group Field (Winnipeg)
Cost: $205 million (could climb to $208 million)
Seating capacity: 33,500 (expandable to 40,000)
Construction timeline: 2010 to 2013
Restrooms: 28
Elevators: 6
Sunken playing field: 7 metres deep
Canopy: Covers 80 per cent of seats
Tim Hortons Field (Hamilton)
Cost: $145.7 million
Seating capacity: 24,000 (expandable to 35,000)
Construction timeline: 2012/2013 to 2014
Restrooms: Number unknown
Elevators: 6
Sunken playing field: No
Canopy: No
Entrance points: 4
Field orientation: North-south
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