Evraz Place announces new president and CEO
Former head of Edmonton’s Northlands has big plans for multi-purpose facility
I would argue there’s few cities in Canada that have made an investment on a singular site as we have here.”
Tim Reid once again has a hockey arena to look after — seven of them, really.
Plus, there’s a football stadium. On Friday, Reid was named president and CEO of Regina Exhibition Association Limited, the body that oversees operation of Evraz Place, home to Mosaic Stadium, the Brandt Centre, Credit Union EventPlex and the Co-operators Centre.
“I would argue there’s few cities in Canada that have made an investment on a singular site as we have here,” Reid said at an introductory news conference. “The opportunity now is to build it into something incredible.
“To me it’s an opportunity to grow something big, to grow fast and be part of something that’s much bigger than bricks and mortar. It’s about place making and community.”
Reid comes to Regina after 31/2 years in Edmonton as president and CEO of Northlands, a site similar to Evraz Place that featured a hockey arena, horse racing track, casino, convention centre and fairgrounds.
Northlands had faced questions about its future in recent years — Reid was in crisis mode really from the time he took that job in 2014 — since the Edmonton Oilers moved from Northlands Coliseum (Rexall Place) to the downtown Rogers Place in 2016.
At the end of 2017, the coliseum closed its doors and its future is uncertain. Horse racing is expected to be finished on the grounds by the end of 2018.
Now Reid comes to Evraz Place, which has seen steady growth under the leadership of Mark Allan since 2003. Allan announced his retirement last summer and will be done at Evraz in March.
In just the past year, Evraz became home to the new stadium and the International Trade Centre, which replaced several worn-out barns used largely by Canadian Western Agribition.
With the new infrastructure in place, Reid sees his job largely as one to map out the next five to 10 years for Evraz and find a way to improve the experience for those coming to the grounds.
“When you look at the CFL or entertainment model, it’s not just about what happens when the band is on stage or your football team is kicking off — it’s really about how people interact with your site before and after the event,” Reid said. “To say one or two restaurants, I think that would be short-sighted on our behalf. It’s about a plan. Not one that we necessarily activate in one year, but that we activate over 20 or 30 years for the success of the entire community.”
While the future of Evraz is on solid footing as an event space with top-tier facilities, it still suffers the problem of not being in a major centre.
“Any time you have world-class facilities in a market that is 250,000 (people), you have to be very creative about how you book things. You have to be selective about the relationships you build,” said Reid. “The data I’ve seen is people come out to events, they spend when they’re there and so they’re willing to spend on sports and events probably above what we would see on a national baseline.”
Reid will start March 5, right in the middle of the Tim Hortons Brier at the Brandt Centre, and then the Memorial Cup will be held there May 19-27.
“The reality is this team has been doing these events for a long time and they’re really good at it,” he said. “This will be an opportunity to see how we perform in a national spotlight, how we integrate with the rest of the city and other notfor-profits, about how we host on a global and international stage.
“It’s a perfect time to start because it’s a great way to dip your toe into that water.”