Council to look at building long-awaited plaza pavilion
It was originally planned for during the design phase of the City Square Plaza in 2010, but with a price tag of $428,000, the welcome services pavilion was shelved.
Now with construction costs coming down to $300,000 and plenty of funds in the downtown deferred revenue account (DDRA), the time may be right for the pavilion to find its home in the plaza.
“We have had that decking in place for the last six years. It is about time to finish them off,” said Judith Veresuk, executive director of Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID). “What we found over the past six years, having had city square programming and different events, it has really become a centre for gathering.”
According to Veresuk, having a centralized location to operate RDBID’s Info On The Go program has become even more important in recent years.
“We have had a mobile kiosk, and it houses all our brochures,” Veresuk said. “It is getting to the point where it is hard to store, and it is not achieving what we want it to achieve.”
RDBID is looking for approval from city council to use $150,000 from the DDRA, which was established in 2012. The account receives funds from the over-dedication of surface parking in the office area zone, and development agreements for commercial office developments like Mosaic Tower. Currently, there is over $450,000 in the account.
“The purpose of that fund is for improvements to the downtown area, and we feel this pavilion fits that qualification,” said Veresuk.
If approved by council on June 26, RDBID would be responsible for the remaining 50 per cent in capital construction costs, which would come from fundraising and possible naming rights on the pavilion.
Veresuk says the pavilion will serve several purposes for RDBID, helping to meet the needs of residents and tourists alike.
“All of the brochures you would get at a tourist info booth will be housed at the east side of the designed pavilion,” Veresuk said.
“In the back, we will have a staff area and some lockers. There will be a storage area to store our equipment for summer programming that will be accessible to both residents and visitors alike,” she continued.
With several festivals using City Square Plaza, Veresuk feels the pavilion will be beneficial to both the city and to festival organizers.
“With the Folk Fest...if they wanted to move their fence line to include the building, we would be open to them using the spaces as their back-of-house operations space,” she said. “If they found no need for it for their own operations, we would certainly staff it during the Folk Fest since there would be a tremendous amount of visitors to the city. The same would go for the Highland Games.”
If approved by council, and funding goes through for the remaining 50 per cent, the pavilion could open in 2018.
“There is an opportunity for all of our downtown stakeholders to find benefit for their own operations at their event and programming.”