The leaking roofs and inadequate electrical service that agricultural exhibitors have put up with at Regina’s Evraz Place for years will soon be gone.
The federal, provincial and civic governments have approved spending $11 million each to build a new International Trade Centre on the exhibition grounds. Another $5 million will be raised through local fundraising.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced Ottawa’s contribution, saying Canadian Western Agribition and Canada’s Farm Progress Show are institutions in Regina and major contributors to the economy.
“We’re bringing world class genetics to a third world building. We need to fix that,” he told reporters after the announcement.
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Construction on the 150,000 sq. foot multipurpose centre is set to begin this fall and be complete by November 2017.
The new facility will replace 13 existing buildings between Canada Centre and the Ag-Ex Pavilion, including the auditorium, the stadium, the Winter Fair building, the Prairie, Pasqua and Harlton barns and the numbered barns that once housed race horses and are now used for stabling and sheep and goat events during Agribition.
All buildings on the grounds will be connected once the construction is finished, making it one of the largest event facilities of that type in North America.
Agribition chief executive officer Marty Seymour said he hadn’t yet seen the construction schedule to know how it will affect the 2016 show. He said the show is committed to its programming and would make it work.
However, he said the new building secures Agribition’s place as the best beef show in the country.
Agribition and Canada’s Farm Progress Show will be the primary tenants of the space. Seymour said the emphasis placed on agriculture during the announcement is an obvious win for the industry and underscores both the federal and provincial governments’ trade efforts.
The building will house a new international business centre.
“Now we can host them in a venue we’re proud of,” Seymour said of the thousands of international visitors who attend the shows.
The centre will house livestock, primarily cattle, during Agribition while maintaining the trade shows in the arena space.
The flow of animals and people should be smoother, and the centre allows for more efficient and effective programming.
Seymour said visitors want the same Agribition experience no matter which day they attend, and he said the new venue will open possibilities for scheduling while respecting animal health issues such as keeping bison and sheep apart.
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Lyle Stewart said the investment is money well spent.
“Between the two shows … there are $380 million roughly in annual sales,” he said.
“The project will likely cost about $38 million, so you do the math. That’s a good deal.”
