Exhibition adjusts expansion plans
Exhibition to defer Agriplex plan
Many popular trade shows held at Exhibition Park are big in attendance, but they could be much bigger. Which is why Exhibition Park management hope to secure the funds needed to build a new Trade and Convention Centre that would more than double the space available today.
They’ll be coming before city council to request half of the $2.2 million needed to bring the first phase of the project to shovel-ready status, and defer phase two.
“We need to escalate the speed on this, and I think looking at the whole picture all at once has been a challenge for the community and quite frankly a challenge to fund. So if we can break this up into smaller pieces, I think it’s going to be a benefit for everyone,” said general manager Rudy Friesen.
Plans to rebuild on the 120-year-old Exhibition grounds have been in the works for about 12 years. Phase one and two were designed in 2014 and $6.2 million has been invested into the project already.
Phase one includes expanded trade space for Exhibition Park plus high-end meeting space and breakout capabilities. The total footprint would be 250,000 square feet.
Phase two plans include a 75,000-sq.-ft. Agriplex, as well as animal wash and holding pens.
The current 120,000-sq.-ft. facility is not big enough to meet vendor demand for popular events such as AgExpo or the Home and Garden Show. Some conventions are booking in other communities as well, because Lethbridge just doesn’t have enough room, said Friesen.
Waiting lists mean revenue lost for Exhibition Park as well as the city. For AgExpo alone, 47 vendors were turned away as there wasn’t enough space, the equivalent of a $368,000 economic loss to the community, explained Friesen.
“So you multiply that over programs, it’s going to be in the millions of dollars that we’re losing. That’s not including the convention piece, that’s just including the work that we currently do. That convention stuff isn’t coming to the city at all and it’s going to be in the millions and millions of dollars.”
The original cost to build a new Trade and Convention Centre was estimated at about $62 million. To build now, Friesen estimates the cost would be less — between $45-$55 million.
Exhibition Park was already approved funding of $25 million in the 2018 Capital Improvement Program, if the remaining balance of approximately $66 million was secured through other sources. The catch was, those sources could not include the provincial Municipal Sustainability Initiative fund; it had to be “new money.”
Council amended the original May 2013 resolution last month to remove those restrictions. Friesen said this opens up more possibilities to secure funding sources.
“Now it can be any money, so it really loosens up the strings for city administration to try and make this happen.”
Friesen understands that money is tight, and council will have to make difficult decisions in the upcoming 2018-2027 CIP. He hopes the public will weigh in with council members if they support the project.
“One of the things that’s important in how the CIP works is that it’s important to be in the first four years of the next 10-year window. That would be considered a priority build for the city if the money comes along.”