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Private sector will not finance significant construction costs: city

They’re calling it a public-private partnership, but the city says that private cash will not be a significant part of the funding for the proposed new stadium. 

Brent Sjoberg is Regina’s deputy city manager and the point man on the project. Today on the Morning News Sjoberg said that no private investors have come forward to offer up direct funding to build the stadium. 

“What we found in our research so far is that the private sector typically is not building stadiums,” said Sjoberg. “They tend to go to the public sector, [except in] those cases where there are rich NFL team owners.” 
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Private cash generated through naming rights or sponsorships is not being counted on to finance a large part of the construction costs. 

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The city is looking for a private partner to fund half the initial costs as a loan to taxpayers to be paid back over a longer time period. 

Reginans will find out on Friday what elements the city is hoping to have included in the stadium.  

Sjoberg said the public-sector ask of $348 million dollars falls well short of the estimated $450 million he said it would cost to build a domed stadium. An open-air facility would cost just $250 million. 

This Friday the proposal city administration sent to the province will be available to the public. That document will reveal whether or not the city is looking for an open air or domed facility. 

So far, the city says it will pay $88 million. They are asking for the province to chip in $230 million and the federal government to contribute $30 million to the downtown revitalization. 

Of the estimated $1 billion dollar price tag on the entire downtown revitalization, the vast majority of public funds will be used to finance the stadium, with the public sector taking care of the other elements of the project like new housing and business developments. 

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