If Regina gets a new baseball stadium, Alan Simpson will be the reason..The founder of Living Sky Sports and Entertainment is eager to replace 60-year-old Currie Field with a 3,500-seat ballpark..“I’ve been a lifelong sports fan, so I like sports and I find sports exciting. But being a lifelong Regina resident, it’s just got to the point where I’ve become very, very frustrated watching us continually kick the can down the road with infrastructure, whether it’s recreational or otherwise,” Simpson said in an interview with Western Standard..Simpson heard plenty of talk but no action about potential developments at Regina’s railyards downtown. So, Simpson found LSSE, hired an architect to design a 3,500-seat baseball stadium and decided to bankroll at least part of the project..“It’s just time to get involved. I can lend some capital to this in a meaningful way to help get this off the ground. And we’re not going to solve Regina’s problems with this, but I think it’s a good thing for the city. It’s a good thing for the Red Sox, it’s good for baseball, it’s desperately needed. Alberta has eight baseball stadiums, Saskatchewan has none,” Simpson said..Simpson was at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks for Baseball Day in Canada August 14 as the Edmonton Prospects and Okotoks Dawgs played a double-header..The 5,200-seat stadium was full of fans for the Western Canadian Baseball League event, even though the city has only 28,800 people..“Most people don’t even know of Baseball Day in Canada in Saskatchewan because there’s never been a venue here to hold it, so I’m excited to get us to a point where we get on the baseball map. And I think the infrastructure project baseball stadium on the rail yards does so much more than just grow the game of baseball,” Simpson said..“If we can put 3,000 people a game in there – and we can – and the Red Sox play 35 games a season, that’s 100,000 people down to the Warehouse District in a 110-day window. So, I believe that’s the economic engine to bring vibrancy and development to the Warehouse District and our downtown core. And, most importantly, a baseball stadium has a useful life of 25 to 30 years..“So, if you’re an ancillary business, and you’re thinking of relocating down there, you know the anchor, the ballpark, is going to be there, just like if you build a business beside Costco…because Costco is sustainable. And that’s what the baseball stadium brings beyond just the game.”.Simpson’s down-to-earth nature, common to many from Saskatchewan, is complemented by his sharp mind. His PgD in business administration from Edinburgh Business School has been put to good use..“I’ve only really done two things of note in my life business-wise,” Simpson said..In 1999, he cofounded Hospitality Network Canada with SaskTel, a service that provides pay-TV and cable to acute care hospitals across Canada. .Simpson’s next venture “was started with two guys and a pencil in Regina.”.StorageVault Canada has become the largest self-storage company in the nation with 210 locations. He put the company on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2007 and it now enjoys has a $2 billion market capitalization. He remains a director and chairs the company’s acquisition committee..The 63-year-old Simpson, who also wants to build a soccer stadium in Saskatoon to attract a CPL franchise, says profit is not his motivation for the baseball stadium..“We haven’t really talked about financial return,” Simpson said..“We’ll work something out that’s equitable, but it’s not about trying to make money with a baseball team at this point, it’s trying to get the stadium built.”.The estimated cost of the ballpark would be $25 million. A suggested plan would include $5 million from the Red Sox club, buoyed by a substantial donation from Simpson. The remaining $20 million would come from provincial, federal, and municipal governments, with an amusement fee or tax for fans providing a portion of that amount..At a recent event showcasing the stadium proposal in Regina, Simpson told an audience of Red Sox patrons a part of his business philosophy required to make the field of dreams real..“I was just a youngster and I owned a business – and a good chunk of it, but not all of it. And I was sitting with the board of directors, and I was trying to get a raise. And finally, I was exasperated, and I said, ‘Well, I deserve this.’.“And my mentor said, ‘Buddy, you don’t get what you deserve in this life. You get what you negotiate. You get what you advocate for,’” Simpson told the crowd, which included Regina Mayor Sandra Masters, Councillor Landon Mohl and MP Michael Kram..“There might be a silent majority…They have to become the vocal majority. If you think this has merit, let your counselor know. Let your MP know. Let your MLA know. We deserve it, but we’re not going to get it if we don’t negotiate and advocate for it.”.Lee Harding is a Regina resident and correspondent for the Western Standard.
