After 12 years as the mayor of Regina, Pat Fiacco announced last month that he would not be seeking a fifth term later this year. Fiacco’s decision has caught some by surprise because “Mayor Pat” is leaving behind some major unfinished business – namely, the ambitious $1-billion Regina Revitalization Initiative.
Fiacco, a former amateur boxing champ, had energetically promoted the initiative, which he resurrected from the ashes of a $431-million, retractable-roof stadium project that died a year ago when $100 million in federal funding was not forthcoming. Fiacco’s revitalization project would be more ambitious, featuring 700 residential units, as well as commercial and retail space, and would take 10 to 15 years to complete.
The cornerstone of the RRI is a proposed multi-purpose facility to be built on 53 acres of CP container yard near the downtown core. Its exact configuration (dome, retractable roof or open-air) is yet to be decided, but the new facility would replace the aging Mosaic Stadium as the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team. Fiacco had promised construction would start in 2013 and be completed by 2016.
Before Fiacco pulled the plug on his career, he ensured that the RRI would have some momentum. Council had approved $500,000 to hire staff for the initiative last May and also created a private/public partnership funding model for the stadium portion.
Fiacco has also endorsed the candidacy of longtime city councillor Michael Fougere, who supports a new stadium.
Nevertheless, significant hurdles remain. First is the matter of the municipal election. Fougere, who is president of the Saskatchewan Construction Association, is the favourite to win the mayor’s job this autumn.
But Fougere’s opponents, including businessman and former mayoral candidate David Robert Loblaw, are against the stadium project. They may force the council to hold a plebiscite on whether to build a new stadium or renovate Mosaic.
A temporary fix for the old stadium is already underway. The Roughriders are spending $14 million to fix up Mosaic in time for the 2013 Grey Cup game.
The renovation project may delay plans for the new stadium project by several years, well after the 2013-16 construction time frame proposed by Fiacco. And the bigger question of funding has still to be answered. Fiacco had boasted that the RRI’s funding would be 75% private and 25% public. But thus far, no corporate partners have stepped forward.
Meanwhile, the city is evaluating whether to build an open-air, fixed-dome or retractable-roof facility; these options could range from $200 million to $450 million.
By way of comparison, Winnipeg (population: 750,000) is building an open-air stadium for about $190 million, while Hamilton, Ont., is completely rebuilding Ivor Wynne Stadium for $152 million. Given Regina’s relatively small population (215,000) and limited demand for large-scale events, an open-air stadium may be a more viable option than a dome or a retractable-roof facility.
In any case, the “on again, off again” stadium project in Regina seems to be back on track. But it wouldn’t take much – like an election – to knock it off again.
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