Regina’s arena committee pitches preferred spot for proposed Brandt Centre 2.0
City | Paul Dechene | October 14, 2022
From the Worst Kept Secrets In Regina File: multiple sources have confirmed that the Arena Planning Strategy Committee’s preferred location for a downtown arena to replace the Brandt Centre is the block bordered by Lorne and Smith Streets, and 11th and 12th Avenues.
If the Catalyst Committee and city council were to go with this recommendation, that would put a downtown arena directly across the street from the Regina Public Library’s central branch.
The northeast portion of the block under consideration for an arena is currently a surface parking lot on which Namerind Housing Corporation had planned to build a much-delayed affordable-housing project.
The north end of this block also includes the Cure Kitchen & Bar and Vintage Vinyl, while the west side includes the provincial court house.
The southern portion of this block is home to three heritage buildings: the Sask. Sport building (1870 Lorne), the Old Regina Public School Board building (1860 Lorne) and Dunning Place (1871 Smith).
An ISC search reveals that almost a quarter of the block is currently owned by Namerind Housing. The remainder is currently held by Sask. Sport Inc, Saskatchewan Property Management Inc, Regina Open Door Society, the Province of Saskatchewan, Vintage Vinyl and Northend Resources Ltd.
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An important caveat: No decision has been made about where to locate a new multipurpose arena. This block is, according to our sources, the Arena Planning Strategy Committee’s preferred candidate for an arena location. Their recommendation has been shared with council and the Catalyst Committee, but it is in no way binding.
The Catalyst Committee begins public consultation on the siting of multiple major infrastructure projects — including this Brandt Centre replacement — on Monday, Oct. 17 and will likely make their recommendations to council sometime in January 2023.
Council will then make a decision about an arena location through the usual process.
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Some background: On July 6, the Arena Planning Strategy Committee (APSC) presented their report on replacing the Brandt Centre to executive committee. In this report, they looked at five possible locations for a new arena. Not surprisingly, the REAL District and The Yards were among the sites they considered. However, three other locations were within downtown. None of those three downtown locations were disclosed within the report and were instead simply identified as Downtown 1, Downtown 2 and Downtown 5.
The APSC explains the decision to keep the downtown locations confidential this way: “It is exceptionally important to the future management of land assembly that the potential downtown locations included within the final report remain confidential.”
Of those three confidential downtown locations, the one noted in the APSC report as Downtown 5 — and as our sources indicate is the block bordered by Lorne and Smith, 11th and 12th — was deemed the best location for a multi-purpose, mid-sized arena and was unanimously agreed upon by committee members to put forward to council as their preferred location.
The APSC explained their recommendation this way:
“The [APSC] has confirmed that all five locations explored within the delivered report would be viable locations for the Mid-Sized Multi-Purpose Event Centre, but it is the unanimous decision of the [APSC] that the downtown location #5 outlined in detail within the final report holds the greatest potential for the creation of an entertainment district and maximizing the transformational change and financial benefit for the greater City of Regina.”
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The Arena Planning Strategy Committee grew out of work on the future of the Brandt Centre that was started by Regina Exhibition Association Ltd (REAL) in April 2021. The APSC was co-chaired by Tim Reid (CEO of REAL) and Tiffany Stephenson (a member of the REAL board of directors).
Other members of the Arena Planning Strategy Committee were Mayor Sandra Masters, Wayne Morsky (as REAL board chair), Kim Onrait (city administration), Chris Lane (Economic Development Regina), Trent Fraser (Regina Minor Hockey), Frank Hart (Economic Development Regina), Jordy Schaworski (Warehouse District), Mitch Molnar (Downtown Business Association), Tracy Fahlman (Regina Hotel Association), Neil Donnelly (listed in the APSC report as the Mayor of Regina but he is the CEO of the Conexus Arts Centre), Rosanne Hill-Blaisdell (REAL board director), Jason Carlston (Warehouse District), Lori Ireland (Regina Chamber of Commerce), Sinead Tierney (REAL, Corporate Governance), Sandra Jackle (REAL, Corporate Development), and Roberta Engel (REAL, Corporate Services).
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After consideration of the APSC report on the Brandt Centre replacement and a report on a new aquatic centre and a needs assessment for a baseball facility, Regina city council struck the Catalyst Committee at an executive committee meeting on July 6, 2022.
The Catalyst Committee is tasked with finding suitable locations for these projects as well as for the Regina Public Library’s central branch — which, as noted above, currently sits across the street from the APSC’s preferred location for a downtown arena.
The Catalyst Committee membership includes co-chairs Tim Reid and Councillor Bob Hawkins. Other members are councillors Lori Bresciani and Andrew Stevens, former members of the APSC Tiffany Stephenson and Chris Lane, and 10 other members from various stakeholder groups.
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Again, there has been no decision made as to where a new arena will be located. The APSC’s recommended location has been communicated to the Catalyst Committee alongside their four other candidate locations.
According to co-chair Bob Hawkins, the Catalyst Committee is not committed to any locations for any of the projects they are looking at, and will only make their recommendations after consultation with the public.
The Catalyst Committee consultations begin with four days of meetings from Oct. 17 to Oct. 20. There will be two, two-hour sessions held on each date — one session at 11 a.m. and the second at 5 p.m.
The sessions will focus on specific Catalyst Projects. The arena replacement for the Brandt Centre will be considered on Monday, Oct 17. The aquatic centre will be considered on Oct. 18. Wednesday, Oct. 19 will be dedicated to a Multi-Purpose Outdoor Baseball Event Centre and a Synthetic Outdoor Field Project. The final day, Oct. 20, will be focused on modernizing the Central Library.
The city offers more detail on these sessions at beheard.regina.ca/catalyst-committee.