Domed stadium still within $350M, Sask. government says
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 | 2:24 PM CT
CBC News
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The Saskatchewan government has released concept drawings for a proposed domed stadium in Regina. (Stadium Consultants International)The proposed domed stadium in Regina is still a $350 million project, not a $600 million one, the Saskatchewan government insists.
Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff, the minister responsible for the stadium study, held a news conference Friday morning to show reporters some of the architectural drawings for a potential future domed stadium.
With a feasibility study into a domed stadium in Regina at the halfway point, the Saskatchewan government says it will start putting out feelers to developers on Saturday.
The province says it will run ads in major Western Canada newspapers requesting expressions of interest from developers who want to be involved in the stadium project.
The government has also been talking to CP Rail about the possibility of moving from their current site on Dewdney Avenue. Some media reports note that if CP Rail relocates its downtown railyards out of the city, the dome could go in the empty space.
Cheveldayoff also insisted at the news conference that the potential price tag for the dome is not rising.
On Thursday, NDP MLA Warren McCall said community groups have been hearing that the price tag could fall somewhere between $480 million and $600 million.
"The rumours that were put forward by the opposition yesterday were false," Cheveldayoff said. "I asked Mr. McCall that I'd certainly be acceptable to a meeting with any of those groups that threw out that number to him if, indeed, that's what happened."
McCall said he still has questions about the potential cost of the project.
"We want to make sure that all the facts are on the table and that the people of Saskatchewan have all the information on the table so that they can make the best possible decision with what proposes to be a very costly project by any standard," he said.
One of the consultants working on the study, Stadium Consultants International, has been told to look at a 33,000-seat facility that can be expanded to 45,000 to 50,000 seats.
The draft plans created by the consultant also include multiple roof options, including a fully retractable roof.
The domed stadium, envisioned as a multi-use facility where concerts, sport events and other activities could be held year-round, would provide a new home for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The CFL team currently plays home games at the open-air Mosaic Stadium, just west of the downtown.
The government says it won't make a final decision on the stadium until it gets its feasibility study back in late January.
