It could be last call at the Swamp later this year.
By 2007, the stadium that houses the longtime bar during Canadian Western Agribition might be gone, torn down along with two rows of barns as part of a proposed multimillion-dollar renewal project at Regina Exhibition Park.
Park president and chief executive officer Mark Allan last week unveiled plans to build a multi-use facility of about 36,000 sq. metres to replace the buildings from Exhibition Stadium through to the Harlton Barn and the numbered barns formerly used to house racehorses.
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The proposed complex could have up to six ice surfaces to allow for year-round use and would cost between $50 and $100 million depending on the final details and how much money the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. can raise.
“There’s no question that the buildings and the site are in a state of disrepair, in part, and we’re committed to changing that,” Allan said.
He said reinvestment at Calgary’s Stampede Park, Edmonton’s Northlands and other Canadian venues means Regina has to compete in an upgraded market. He said some of those facilities are subsidized while Regina operates on a commercial basis.
The park attracts between one and 1.5 million people each year at events as diverse as the Regina Bull Sale and rock concerts.
Allan said the park wants to retain its international agricultural events like Agribition and the Royal Red Arabian horse show.
Exhibitors at both shows have said that problems like leaky roofs and
inadequate electrical and water supplies have to be addressed.
The Royal Red is committed to Regina only until 2008.
“It’s been made clear to us that they’ll not be here if we don’t have repaired roofs on barns for their event beyond ’08,” Allan said.
Shannon McArton, first vice-president of Agribition, deemed the upgrades vital and said the organization is already looking at how the show will be affected.
“I think the window is very small and we’re throwing our full support behind getting this done as quickly as possible, keeping in mind that we have to have some plans to deal with the impact on our business,” she said.
The park has already benefited from a $13 million project that saw the construction of the Credit Union Event Plex, the renovation of the former Queensbury Downs into the Queensbury Convention Centre and the conversion of a former casino into the OT Lounge.
“Our business has doubled, more than doubled, in the convention centre alone,” Allan said.
The idea of building highly flexible, energy efficient buildings to replace the underused, underperforming barns has been shown to key stakeholders and further consultation will determine the final plan.
Other buildings would also be repaired. Canada Centre needs roof repairs and the Brandt Centre upgrades call for more and new seats.
“I’d love to see a shovel in the ground in the fall of ’07,” said Allan.
Regina mayor Pat Fiacco said the city would make the park one of its two major projects with money from the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund and pledged that work would indeed begin in 2007. The park is also looking to the provincial and federal governments for funding.
Allan, meanwhile, said the memories of the old buildings as well as the families for whom some are named would be honoured in some way in the new complex.
