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Posted Apr 23, 2008, 8:21 AM
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BANNED
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Regina, Sk, Canada
Posts: 3,774
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Ok now that we are finally done talking about expressways to downtown, how about some HUGE annoucements for Regina in the VERY near future?  
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/n...fc737-9021-4025-a7bc-0773bd111dfb&k=1233
Quote:
'The iron is hot,' says Wall at Premier's Dinner
Barb Pacholik, Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
REGINA -- With Saskatchewan poised to become a world leader in oil, uranium and potash exports -- Premier Brad Wall thinks it's time for a few imports, namely corporate office towers.
In an address Tuesday at his first Regina Premier's Dinner, Wall touched largely on his government's achievements since taking office five months ago, but he also hinted at future plans when he mentioned it "is serious about a head-office strategy" for this province.
"I think you're going to hear about some pretty exciting head office or corporate office opportunities right here in the capital city," the premier told a capacity crowd of more than 1,600 people. Indeed, some of the diners ended up watching Wall in an "overflow" room via closed-circuit television at the Queensbury Convention Centre. "It's a good problem to have," he admitted of the sell-out affair, with tickets going for $225 a head.
Pressed later by reporters about his strategy to attract more corporate or head offices to Saskatchewan, Wall said that since the election, the government has been talking with companies -- including oil and mining -- about their investments here.
"The country's talking about Saskatchewan right now, so if not now in terms of a head-office strategy, then when? The iron is hot, and we should strike," he said, adding that was one of the topics he discussed with former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed when he was here.
In addition to making a personal presentation to companies, Wall said new growth tax incentives might also be an option to attract interest. He admitted some head offices clearly won't move, for example, from Calgary's international energy centre, but that doesn't rule out a "corporate office presence." At the same time, he also wants to work with corporate offices that are already here, such as Viterra and the Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan.
Asked if there is currently any specific deal in the works, Wall would only say, "I think we're going to see some progress in this in the months and years ahead."
Wall was introduced to the capacity crowd by another of Saskatchewan's international exports -- broadcaster and former Canadian Consul General to New York Pamela Wallin, who shared the premier's view that "next year has arrived for Saskatchewan."
"Yes, the world's food basket has become the commodity superstore," she said.
Wall's 45-minute address to primarily party faithful was a grocery list of the Saskatchewan Party's election promises, and those they have already ticked off -- from large purchases like more nurses, labour law changes, and investment in infrastructure to the small like the elimination of the so-called "wiener roast tax" in provincial parks.
"We're just getting started. There's a lot more to be done," said Wall, who included in that list increasing immigration, engaging First Nations in the economy, better revenue sharing policies with municipalities, and addressing labour shortages.
Wall said the province has become an "economic powerhouse" and his trips to places like Washington, New York and Calgary have been about getting that word out.
"There is an optimism sweeping the province," he said.
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Also this from Rod Pederson's Blog in an interview with Saskatchewan Roughriders CEO Jim Hopson. 
http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/
Quote:
Saskatchewan Roughriders President and CEO Jim Hopson was
on CKRM's Sportsline last night, and he made a few
announcements regarding the plans for renovations of Mosaic
Stadium. Here are his comments....
HOPSON: "We'll hopefully be doing a big announcement in
the next week to 10 days with the City of Regina because at
the end of the day, they are the owners of the facility.
But clearly there are two areas that we need to address.
#1 is that our football facilities are as good as there is
in the league so we can attract and retain the best in
talent. We've come a long ways by renovating the locker
room and getting new turf but Rod, you've been in the
locker room and in our football area under the stadium and
it needs some upgrades. We need proper meeting rooms,
players' lounge, media area, proper offices, a weightroom."
"#2 is the fans and that's two things. Upgrading our
concessions, our access issues, we need elevators for
better exit and entry. And then we need more seats ...
and good seats, not temporary bleachers. So those are the
priorities. The City is very receptive and they see the
benefits to the community in soccer, football, concerts,
and the Riders so I think we'll see a plan unveiled fairly
soon. It'll also be bigger than most people expect and
it'll be a multi-year plan, not just for one year."
Co-host Kelly Remple asked about expanding the Rider Store
(souvenirs and merchandise)..
HOPSON: "Absolutely. Realistically, most businesses
couldn't do what we do in the size of the facility we have
but our fans are so gracious and supportive to stand in
line. But we're doing a lot of work in that area right
now and there's a major renovation just finishing up at the
Northgate Mall that will make that store a flagship for us.
We recently moved our business operations over to the
corner of Albert and Dewdney which will allow us to expand
our regular Store at Mosaic plus we're going to see the old
Game Day Store come back into the mix as a jersey store
this year. So we are taking some steps immediately to
improve the space available and just improve the traffic
flow. Long-term though that project has to put a new
merchandise centre in there possibly in conjunction with a
Rider museum and new ticket office. You'll see some
changes this year that'll help us get people through there
quicker."
Joe Hadesbeck asked Jim about the new Roughrider jerseys
for 2008, which features a new shade of green....
HOPSON: "We'll be unveiling our new jerseys soon.
They're not a radical change, but we've tried to do is
be consistent with our green. Over the years we saw the
green evolve almost to a 'kelly green' , and different
colours. But we really like that Rider retro green.
That's our colour, and it's been really well-received.
That's what we're going to use in our uniforms. The
new pants, we've just done some minor tinkering with them.
They look clean, they look sharp, they capture our
tradition and we're excited about them. And the one
thing we made sure of for this year is that we have our
product on time, in Regina, and so we're ready to put
numbers and lettering on so fans can get quick turnaround
when they buy a jersey. Reebok now understands how big
our fan support is and the importance of properly servicing
it. When you sell more merchandise than the rest of the
league put together, Reebok tends to sit up and listen."
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I sure hope they don't face the hotel to Albert St. Does anyone have any renderings of the proposed redevelopment of The Superstore Property? Maybe there's minor streets planned, but that's complete speculation at this time. I'd like to see part of the old Superstore turned into an indoor waterpark. Connecting up to the hotels in the area. Not likely but a hotel development with a waterpark is certainly feasible. But a stand alone hotel, not supporting Dewdney Ave. is simply unacceptable. There needs to be major forthought and planning to this entire area, anything less is unacceptable. A road connecting Smith St underneath the CP mainline tracks and Downtown as well as maybe another connecting Lorne St. are needed Warehouse District / Downtown road connectors. As well as A pedestrian all climate connector @ Scarth Street, to both Downtown and the Warehouse district. Possibly a climate controlled bridge over and a pedestrian cobblestone underpass underneath. Any opinions???
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