One project down, two to go for the touchdown

As the Riders prepare to break in the shiny, new Mosaic Stadium this weekend, I had a few thoughts.

Full confession: I don’t bleed green; I’m not a season-ticket holder; and I didn’t lust for a new stadium.

But I am the proud owner of an autographed Rider jersey; I’ve occasionally huddled up in those stands to see a game; I’ve spent countless Rider games working in a stadium food booth to raise money for a non-profit club; and I was rockin’ in the seats at the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney concerts.

I am your average Jo whose taxes will pay for the stadium in the years to come.

What I love most about the Riders and Mosaic Stadium are their ability to unite the masses. On a game day, people from all walks of life sport green and follow the game, whether in the stands, on TV, radio or a smartphone.

I spoke to Peter Gilmer, of the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry, after the announcement in July 2012 when the stadium project got its official kickoff. I was delayed in connecting with the lifelong Rider fan because he was at the football game when that announcement was made. “It’s a question of priorities,” he said, referencing the city’s housing crisis and other social needs. “While certainly a new stadium would be nice, it’s an awful lot of resources to be putting up for a very long time,” Gilmer told me.

He’s right on both counts. It is nice, and it is a lot of money — some $675 million over 30 years, including debt servicing and maintenance.

Like scores of people who weathered a cool, rainy Saturday in September 2015, I got my first peek inside the new stadium at an open house when it was half done. Like touring a show home, it’s tough not to be wowed by anything new, and the enthusiasm of the awed gawkers was infectious.

When I drove past as the stadium took shape, I was fascinated to see a futuristic-looking structure rising on the same exhibition grounds that hosted the 1933 World Grain Exhibition and, two years later, a camp for the unemployed workers of the On to Ottawa Trek.

When I drive in the neighbourhood outside exhibition park, I’m struck by other contrasts — between a new stadium and dilapidated rental homes; drink cupholders and empty refrigerators, comfy seats and those who endlessly couch surf in an inner-city neighbourhood that’s destroyed too many of our residents.

The Leader-Post’s op-ed pages filled with letters for and against a new stadium after that announcement five years ago. As University of Regina professor and social activist Marc Spooner put it, the homeless of this city are roof ready too. On the other end of the spectrum, facilities like the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, Conexus Arts Centre and Brandt Centre that define this city and contribute to its vibrancy would not have been built without taxpayers’ money and a dare to dream.

I stand with a foot in both camps. In the years to come, when I take in a Rider game or concert or an amateur sporting event, I’ll swell with pride in the new digs, and what this province could accomplish when it decided to think big.

I’m mindful the stadium was a splurge and not a necessity in prosperous times. It’s like taking out a loan and digging into savings when deciding it’s time to take the plunge and replace that vehicle with the rusted fenders, cracking seats and a pockmarked windshield even though the motor still works fine.

Now as this province juggles austerity budgets, service cuts, higher taxes and financial sacrifices, some will inevitably look at the stadium and also dream — about what those tax dollars might have bought. It’s too late; the money is spent; the debt must be paid.

And so I hope decision-makers won’t lose sight of the rest of the promise that delivered the stadium. Don’t forget, it was only Step 1 in a touted $1-billion Regina Revitalization Initiative; Step 2 being renewal of the former CP railyards and Step 3 new housing and a reinvigorated neighbourhood on the former stadium site.

I hope the same anticipation, buzz and excitement builds, and those dreams are also realized.

Because only then will this city’s field of dreams be truly complete.