Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) will present Regina’s Executive Committee with a report that discusses the future of the Brandt Centre.
The report outlines three options that feature five locations for a new 10,000-seat multi-purpose event centre that would replace the Brandt Centre.
Tim Reid, the CEO of the REAL District, said they are bringing forward the report due to the Brandt Centre reaching the end of its life as an event centre.
“Ultimately, we believe that the Brandt Centre probably has seven to ten years before we start running to major problems,” he said. “If you did want to build a new facility, you are going to have to do a year of land assembly, a year of design, and we believe the construction of this facility will take 24 months.”
“If you think purely from the logistics of building a new facility, we need four years to plan and build a replacement facility. We do need to start talking about this now.”
He said tearing down the long-time event centre is not an option and believes that the Brandt Centre can be repurposed and continue to serve Regina and the area for the next 50 years.
The report outlines two possible options for the Brandt Centre. The first is for it to be repurposed for recreational use to meet the needs of indoor fitness, court sports, and leisure recreation. The proposed redevelopment cost between $5.2 and $15.6 million.
The second option is for the Brandt Centre to become an agriculture ‘Centre of Innovation’ to meet the need for a greater community agricultural strategy, shared space, and agriculture innovation lab and testing space. That option would see an investment between $2.7 to $6.5 million.
As for where the new facility would be built, the REAL District, The Yards, and three locations in Regina’s downtown are the proposed options.
REAL has recommended that the third downtown location be the best place for the five sites.
“We feel from a greater city perspective this is the best recommendation,” he said. “First is incremental tax impact. Recognizing there is a lift of three and eleven per cent on the tax evaluation of properties. Simply if you put this in the most dense location, the net yield for the taxpayer and the community will be highest.”
“We also recognize that the development of a future library is intended to happen downtown and will generate somewhere between 750,000 and a million visitors downtown; add to that to the potential 500,000 to 600,000 visitors that a new event centre might create, we think that those two projects have a transformational impact on the future of our downtown,” he said. “Then the last piece to it, we also believe that it’s likely the location where we have the best ability to build a true entertainment district in the heart of our city.”
Construction for the new facility would cost anywhere between $100 to $120 million, dependent on the location.
Reid also adds that the location would also see more revenue generated. Currently, the Brandt Centre generates between $800 to $900 thousand, whereas the new facility would cost between $1.8 million and $2 million.
REAL’s report will have to approve by executive committee before being brought forward to Regina city council.