Mayor Pat Fiacco (pictured) held a news conference this morning to provide further insight into plans he’s in the process of developing to put together a consortium of public and private interests to possibly facilitate the redevelopment of 33 acres of CP property between downtown Regina and the Warehouse District.
Aside from retail, commercial and residential development, this site, says a City news release, would feature “a new entertainment facility that would be the home for arts, culture, entertainment, trade as well as amateur and professional sport.”
I’m not sure if the ranking that’s been assigned to the various possible user groups in the above sentence reflects their actual importance in the redevelopment proposal, or if it’s a simple matter of alphabetical convenience ie arts, culture, entertainment … although it it’s the latter, than “sport” (both amateur and professional) should rightly proceed “trade”. More likely, it’s just an effort by the mayor to dilute the perception in certain circles that this whole push to build a $431 million retractable roofed stadium isn’t just another sweetheart accommodation for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (and to put pressure on the federal government to pony up some cash for the project after it indicated its disinterest in funding professional sports facilities).
Regardless, if some way could be found to incorporate some cultural amentities into the stadium complex it would help ensure some usage on the 355 or so days of the year when the Riders aren’t playing a home game at the “multi-purpose facility”.
The second part of the announcement concerns redevelopment of a 20 acre parcel of land on the current site of Mosaic Stadium/Taylor Field. Again, a mix of residential, commerical and retail uses is envisioned.
Here’s a link to a City of Regina news release that includes a short video outlining the mayor’s ideas.