No dome, new location for proposed stadium in Regina

A year after announcing plans for a dome stadium in Regina on the site of the CP rail yards, the original blue prints have been thrown out the window.  

The City of Regina now says a dome is out of the question. 

“It would be great for lots of people, but can we afford it?” asked deputy city manager Brent Sjoberg. “As we looked at some of the numbers, we don’t think we can.” 

Also to save money, Evraz Place will now be the site for the proposed open air stadium.  

“The reality is the land that we’re likely to purchase (on the CP rail yards) will not accommodate a stadium,” city manager Glen Davies explained. “Even if it could, our analysis leads us to believe the best location is at Evraz Place.” 

Evraz Place is currently owned by the city, so the land would not have to be purchased.  

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“We don’t have to buy land to build it on, so there’s an immediate savings there,” Davies said. 

The original plan was to negotiate the sale of 33 acres on the CP rail site for the stadium, but now the city is looking to just purchase 17.5 acres along Dewdney Avenue. Negotiations are underway to buy the land, clean it up, and then sell it to developers. 

“It’s a great opportunity for continued office developments, hotels, there will be public spaces,” deputy city manager Brent Sjoberg said.  

An open air stadium costs around $250M. The plan is to have it completely paid for with public money. 

“Investing in a stadium also creates opportunities for private sector development and investment around it that will benefit the community for generations to come,” Davies explained.  

The only part of the original plan to remain fully in place is the redevelopment of the current Mosaic Stadium site into a residential neighbourhood. That part of the development will be mostly covered with private funding. 

The city is waiting on the province to see if it will accept a written request in a proposal for $230M in funding. The province has until the end of May to respond. 

Sjoberg wants to hear as soon as possible so the project can stick to the tight time frame. The goal is to begin construction of the new stadium in the fall of 2013, and completed in 2016.