'Build it and they will come': Council commits to next steps for Currie Field replacement

Regina City Council committed to taking the next steps towards replacing Currie Field.

At their meeting Wednesday, councilors approved a study that would search for possible private donors and sponsors for a new tier-one ball park.

“We don’t know where it will be located, but it will be in a really great place to play baseball,” said Ward 2 Coun. Bob Hawkins, who submitted the motion along with Mayor Sandra Masters.

“We don’t know exactly what the stadium will look like, but we hope it will be a first-class facility,” Hawkins added.

The current home for the Regina Red Sox is over 60 years old with facilities well past their life span and not to the standard of Baseball Canada nor the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL).

“We’re in a bit of an existential situation,” said Red Sox Vice President Alan Simpson and Co-founder of Living Sky Entertainment, who owns the Red Sox.

“It’s more than let’s build a stadium – build it and they will come,” he added. “[Sponsors] will come, but they will also go.”

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The WCBL sent a letter to the team saying their ballpark was not meeting their minimum regulations and could face suspension until they were resolved.

“It’s a tough sell Currie Field is,” Simpson said. “It’s not a place you take your girlfriend and send her to the bathroom,” he added. “She’s not going to say yes to the ring.”

“[Currie Field] doesn’t have a visitor dressing room,” Masters told reporters following the meeting. “I think we should proceed with this.”

The motion tasked third party DCG Philanthropic (DCG) to begin a “case for support study.” Council hoped to see at least $5 million of private dollars committed before the Red Sox return to council with future proposals for public funds.

“If we put three or four million [dollars] into Currie Field over the next five years and the stadium goes ahead, somebody’s saying, ‘where are you guys?” Simpson told councillors. “But we’d be broke.”

“I suspect it is in the Red Sox‘s best interest to expedite the process,” Masters said.

DCG outlined in their report, the city having a potential commitment and location approved would make it more plausible for private entities to give their support.

Two sites were identified as possible locations for the potential new ballpark.

Hawkins and Masters’ motion outlined either adding to development at the Yards or on the former Taylor Field site.

"The Yards" area alongside Dewdney Avenue in Regina. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News)

Former site of Taylor Field in downtown Regina. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News)

“I’m not saying the lands are absolutely spoken for,” reminded City Manager Niki Anderson. “But I do know we have some investment dollars tied to the Dewdney Avenue reconstruction.”

Despite the $5 million minimum fundraising goal for the study, the approval could tie $2.5 million in city funds to the project.

It would be spread out over 10 years.

“We’re short on space for debt,” Ward 6 Coun. Dan Leblanc said. “If we’re in for $2.5 million – if [they] can get the $5 million – I don’t know where that money is coming from.”

“Over the course of 10 years, that’s 0.038 per cent of our operating budget and 0.1 per cent of our annual capital budget,” Masters said. “It could also mean just a donation of civic land.”

The motion passed 8 votes to 2, with just Coun. Leblanc and Zachidniak voting against.

Council’s final approval is still required for construction to begin and allocated city dollars attached.

It’s expected that will not come forward until after the civic election in November.