Regina Folk Fest opposes downtown arena, business owners also concerned

REGINA, SASK : September 30, 2022– Stock image of City Hall on Friday, September 30, 2022 in Regina. KAYLE NEIS / Regina Leader-Post

Organizers of the Regina Folk Festival (RFF) are opposed to the proposed construction of a multi-purpose arena intended to revitalize the City of Regina’s downtown core, saying it would cause them significant issues.

“Quite simply, we would not be able to host the festival in Victoria Park under such circumstances,” wrote RFF artistic director Amber Goodwyn and executive director Josh Haugerud in their delegation to council.

The proposed development near 12th Avenue and Lorne Street would negatively impact loading and unloading of supplies and staging, fire safety exits and service points for garbage and recycling pickup, they wrote.

“If a large event was happening at the same time as our festival, the challenges would multiply,” they added.

During the festival’s 50th anniversary show in 2019, Garth Brooks was performing at Mosaic Stadium the same weekend, which Goodwyn said was a challenge for the festival.

The RFF has hosted its festival in Victoria Park for over four decades. The RFF brass said the park contains vital infrastructure, in addition to being a central location. They said the cost of moving, whether temporarily or permanently, would be significant.

Diesel generators would be needed to run the festival at another location, Haugerud said when questioned by city council about the potential costs. Haugerud added the costs could reach “six figures.”

“We ask that the City of Regina help us continue to exist by not building a multipurpose event centre Downtown,”  Goodwyn and Haugerud urged.

When questioned by Coun. Terina Nelson if they had attended any public sessions, Haugerud said the sessions being held during the day limited their ability to attend.

There were no other invitations extended to the RFF for stakeholder input, Goodwyn said.

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Several delegations to Thursday’s meeting were in support of the proposed downtown arena, including businesses involved in real estate like the Nicor Group and Harvard Developments.

Kelly Cairns and Morgan Choquer, two owners of The Cure restaurant and bar, expressed concern that the buildings which house businesses on 11th Avenue could be demolished to make room for the proposed arena.

“We are concerned about the future of our business and other businesses on 11th Avenue,” Choquer said.

Cairns said the venue hosts between 100 and 150 events per year, including live music and open mic nights for performers of all kinds, and a lot of those shows are free.

In the Cure’s written delegation, Cairns said their location was chosen because of a Namerind housing development nearby, which has since become a parking lot, and the development of Capital Pointe.

“Developments like these that bring young people (including our staff) in from Harbour Landing and other areas, enticing them with newer housing options, would benefit the downtown economy more than any one event space,” Cairns wrote.

Cairns wrote in the search for a location, opportunities were limited due to the potential costs to overhaul buildings to meet health and fire safety standards.

While an arena could bring in big corporate business, it would create uncertainty for local small business owners,  she said, while questioning how they’d weather relocation or years of construction nearby.

“If retaining young, creative, entrepreneurial minds in this city is the goal, displacing the 11th Ave corridor of young businesses is not a good place to start,” she wrote. “We are not outright opposed to an arena, if it is placed where it already is.”

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