City Council June 25, 2018 City to bid on 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts; boards to be replaced at Mosaic Place

The City of Moose Jaw will be placing a bid to host the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, with Curl Moose Jaw receiving up to $100,000 for a bid package after their request was approved by city council on June 25.

The city last hosted the women’s national curling championship in 2015, and it was in part because of the success of that event that the proposal was accepted.

“I think it’s very important, some of the numbers from 2015 when Moose Jaw hosted the Scotties, Mosaic Place saw revenues of $200,000 and the curling association saw revenues upwards of $200,000,” said Coun. Chris Warren. “So there’s a pretty good case to be made that these organizations are going to make some profits... and the economic spinoffs are in the $10 million to $15 million range for hotels and restaurants, so that’s what we’re looking forward to seeing.” If the bid to the Canadian Curling Association is successful, Curl Moose Jaw and Mosaic Place would provide up to $50,000 each of their net profits to the city.

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A proposal for the replacement of the boards and glass at Mosaic Place with a new and safer CrystalPlex dasher board system was approved by council, with the city paying half of the estimated $402,000 and the Moose Jaw Warriors the remainder.

The system is designed with a patented system that allows the boards and glass to give on impact, reducing injuries from hard hits. The improvement was mandated by the Western Hockey League with a deadline of September 2019, with Moose Jaw one of only three remaining arenas that had yet to make the change. “On behalf of our Board of Directors, we are very pleased to make this investment in our community in partnership with Mosaic Place,” Warriors general manager Alan Millar said in a press release. “This new CrystalPlex dasher board system is in the best interest of player safety and will benefit not only our WHL players, but all users of the facility.”

The system comes with the added bonus of being much easier to remove and re-install, with an estimated time saving of 72 hours, resulting in labour savings of up to $11,520 annually.

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Moose Jaw Pride executive director Joe Wickenhauser brought two items before council, with both receiving approval.

The local organization will be allowed to ‘adopt’ a bench outside their store and paint it in rainbow colours, with Pride providing the paint and all upkeep once the project is completed. The bench will be located outside their new Rainbow Retro store and gathering place at 345 Main Street.

Moose Jaw Pride also received permission to operate a beer garden in Crescent Park for Pride Week celebrations on July 28 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.. There was some discussion as to whether or not the approval would lead to a ‘slippery slope’ of organizations requesting beer gardens on a regular basis in the family-friendly area, but the motion for approval was carried.

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The Moose Jaw Homegrown Farmer’s Market received permission to go ahead with a special occasion permit in order to serve alcohol samples at the market, located on Langdon Crescent on Wednesday evenings beginning July 11.

The market – which has been in operation the last four years and has expanded from eight to 45 vendors in that time – features two businesses that sell alcoholic beverages: Prairie Bee Meadery and Smooth 42 Craft Distillery.

The market will have to have a separate enclosure for the two businesses and age verification of those sampling the wares will be necessary.

The market also petitioned council to be able to hang banners from lightposts in the area, but as that issue had been the responsibility of SaskPower in the past, council referred to the request to city administration in order to draw up a concrete policy.

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Coun. Warren was named the deputy mayor for the next two months from July 1 to Aug. 31; Coun. Dawn Luhning the chair of the executive committee and Coun. Froese the chair of the personnel committee.