City survey shows most back modernizing the central Regina Public Library, new indoor aquatic facility

Regina city council's catalyst committee has released the results of a recent online survey designed to gauge community interest in five potential recreation and cultural facility projects.

About 4,500 people completed the survey. The committee also conducted five days of public hearings about the projects, with 800 people attending 

"Ultimately, [the surveys] will be critical elements of the final decision making," said Tim Reid, committee co-chair and president of REAL District, the largest interconnected event complex in Canada, at a press event on Thursday. 

The proposed projects are:

• A multi-purpose events centre.
• An indoor aquatic facility.
• An outdoor baseball centre.
• A synthetic outdoor field for soccer.
• Modernization of the central Regina Public Library. 

Of the five projects, the aquatic centre and the central library were the top priorities for the majority of those surveyed. 

However, a running theme in the results was that most people would not support the projects if they were funded solely by public investment. 

"I think there's sensitivity about … [whether this] is this the right time to be talking about large investments. There's sensitivity on the economy, there's uncertainty around investment, there's tax uncertainty," Reid said.

"I think we heard very clearly that we need to be very planned on the timing of this."

Survey says ...

The proposal to replace the Lawson Aquatic Centre with a new 265,000-square-foot facility would cost $173 million. Should the project move forward, 53 per cent of those surveyed said it should be paid for by funds from the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, private investment and community fundraising.

A plurality (41 per cent) said that if the project goes ahead, it should proceed within the next five years.

The recommendation by the board of the Regina Public Library to replace the current central library with a new 150,000-square-foot facility would cost approximately $125 million.

Support for public investment in this project is divided: 28 per cent strongly agree, 29 per cent somewhat agree, 17 per cent somewhat disagree and 26 per cent strongly disagree.

If the library project moves forward, the majority of those surveyed said it should be paid for by a combination of funding from the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, private investment and community fundraising.

A plurality (36 per cent) said that if approved, the project should proceed within the next five years.

The proposal to replace the Brandt Centre with a new 380,000-square-foot multipurpose event centre would cost $120-million. A plurality (47 per cent) of those surveyed didn't see this project as a priority. However, if it does go forward, the majority said it shouldn't proceed for at least 10 years.

The multipurpose outdoor baseball centre garnered the same reaction. More than half of those surveyed said that the $15-million project is not a priority. The outdoor field project, which has a $10-million price tag, got the same response. 

However, Coun. Bob Hawkins, co-chair of the catalyst committee, says he believes interest in the projects is strong.

"When you divide it up between five projects … you're not going to see anybody with 100 per cent interest," he said.

"But we saw very great interest in the library, very great interest in the pool. We also saw the public say to us that if other levels of government are prepared to stand up and fund these infrastructure projects, we want Regina to be shovel-ready so we get our share in the pie."

Responsibility to think about future: councillor

Hawkins says that in his ward, young families are interested in these types of projects and that some might not stay in Regina if projects such as these aren't on the table or ultimately made available. 

"The public does want us to be very careful with public money, and we will be in the city, but that doesn't mean we ignore these kinds of projects," Hawkins said.

"Forty years ago, if people had built none of these projects, the city would be in terrible shape We have a responsibility when we're spending public dollars not just to think about today, but to think about what this means in 10 years and 20 years for the city."

Reid added that new projects in Regina bring more jobs, both in their construction and then staffing them.

The catalyst committee will have a report based on the survey ready for Regina city council by mid-January. It says the next step will be to find site locations for the proposed projects.