If they build it the fans will come…and eat, drink, and party nearby. That’s the idea behind a proposed $25 million baseball stadium in Regina..In April, the Regina Red Sox of the Western Canadian Baseball League and Living Sky Sports and Entertainment announced a partnership to have a new venue. Earlier this week, they showcased designs for a new 3,500 seat stadium..“I’ve lived here for 63 years, and talk of a baseball stadium has been going on ad nauseum,” LSSE fonder Alan Simpson told an audience of fans, sponsors, and a few elected officials..“Currie Field is 60 years old. We’re throwing good money after bad if we were to upgrade it. It sits on a garbage dump. I don’t think you could even do anything out there now, if you had to start from square one, because environmentally it wouldn’t pass a phase one or phase two.”.The stadium would be built on the south side of Dewdney Avenue and north of the railroad tracks. The space was used by CP Rail for decades and is soaked with creosote but is now available due to the Global Transportation Hub west of the city..“A ballpark knocks down remediation [costs] substantially. We looked at what might happen with the wastewater management, the stormwater management, domestic servicing – that comes down significantly from what other plans might be for that area,” Simpson said..Architects noticed the curve of the railroad was perfect to accommodate the outfield, creating a maximum utilization of the available space. The dazzling 3D renderings of the 3,500 seat stadium included a beautiful view of downtown, but how this stadium will be funded remains somewhat hazy..Simpson is willing to donate a substantial sum to the Red Sox whose combined efforts could contribute $5 million. The remaining $20 million would probably be split between the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. An amusement tax (likely to be termed a “fee”) would likely be applied to those going to games, as ‘Rider fans do at Mosaic Stadium..Red Sox president Gary Brotzel called Simpson “a godsend” for the community-owned club, which has been around since the 1940’s. Fundraising has kept the team going for decades as Currie Field has few seats and a location on the northeast outskirts of the city..“We raise all the money to keep this team afloat. You can’t do it strictly on our attendance in our current facility. We just can’t attract enough fans there, but if we get something like this built, that’s definitely a game-changer for us,” Brotzel told the audience..“Our competitors in Alberta, with the exception of Brooks, all have stadiums like this. There’s a new one built in Sylvan Lake. It’s not quite done. It’s the same architect as this design. They’ve got 1,200 seats already out of their [eventual] 3,500 seats. Sold out every night, all 1,200 seats.”.A new stadium is being built in Spruce Grove for the Edmonton Prospects, one of just five teams in action this year. Brooks, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Weyburn, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, and Regina have been sidelined the past two years due to the pandemic..The north side of Dewdney Avenue is already the primary place for Regina nightlife. Placing a stadium on Dewdney’s south side with downtown just across the tracks seems to be the perfect match for Millennials like Mitch Simpson..“In my particular friend group, there’s no reason to go downtown unless there’s a Rider game or Pats game,” Simpson told the Western Standard at the showcase..“There’s no draw. So when you have a baseball stadium, in my opinion, it opens up the door for…a group of guys with their girlfriends or just a group of guys or girls to go supper downtown, and then maybe they head to the casino after. But they have the ball game that gets them down there, that gets the excitement going.”.Lee Harding is a Western Standard correspondent living in Regina.
