Evraz Place CEO set to hand off to successor
After 15-year tenure, during which he revamped operations, he’s retiring
Over the course of 15 years at the helm, Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL) CEO Mark Allan has seen many changes to the organization and Evraz Place, but two events stick out in his mind.
“I remember standing there for the Rolling Stones concert and the Paul McCartney concert and thinking it is cool what we do for a living,” Allan said. “Seeing the community embrace what we do, those are big memories for me.”
With Allan’s retirement effective March 31, 2018, a new person will be at the helm of REAL, guiding Evraz Place further into the 21st century.
When he took over in 2003, Allan expected to be in the job for about seven years.
“We really had a tremendous run,” he said. “It is a once-in-alifetime opportunity. It has been awesome. In many ways, part of it is the feeling of moving the football down the field a long ways.”
Allan’s retirement comes at an important time for REAL and Evraz Place. Over the past several years, 23 dilapidated buildings have been torn down at the complex, replaced with six facilities that make Evraz Place the largest interconnected, multi-purpose sports, entertainment and business complex in the country. By coincidence, the last old building was knocked down the day Allan announced his retirement.
“It is clear now what the job will be in the future,” Allan said. “I have been part of the building and rebuilding and the next phase is refining the operation. A lot of the big building blocks of what the enterprise represents are here now.”
For Jeff MacPherson, REAL board chair, the process of finding Allan’s replacement begins now. The process will start with forming a committee of members of the board and looking at how other organizations handled leadership transitions. MacPherson hopes to have a replacement hired by January.
“Our first work is to reach out to organizations like the Riders, the city, the police and the Pats ... to investigate the processes they have done, what works well, challenges they found,” MacPherson said. “Instead of starting new, we are starting from a position of experience.”
MacPherson has seen things change quite a lot over the course of Allan’s tenure.
“I have been here as chair for 10 years, and Mark and I have spent a lot of time together,” MacPherson said. “I remember Mark talking about seeing more cars in the parking lot of staff than customers.”
MacPherson praised Allan for helming many of the changes that came about at Evraz Place over the years, helping to turn into a thriving and revitalized organization.
“For us, it has revolutionized the property and taken a sleepy organization and really turned it into a community focus,” he said.
Mayor Michael Fougere also commended Allan for his time as CEO of REAL.
“Mark has had a huge record of accomplishment and achieved a great deal for the city,” Fougere said. “He is a real leader ... he started out with a plan and he put it into place and that is a remarkable achievement ... he will be tough to replace. He brought a lot to skills to the table.”
As for Allan and his retirement plans, it may finally be time to finish up a two-decade project.
“I do have a 20-year-old cabin project that is not finished. I may take a run at that next summer.”