Report on the future of Wascana Park being kept secret
$800K report paid for by taxpayers, completed two years ago
A report on the future of Regina's Wascana Park is being kept confidential, two years after it was completed by an independent consultant.
The report, called 'Our Wascana', was commissioned four years ago by the authority which oversees the park to come up with a vision for its next 50 years.
It hired an independent consultant, which gathered feedback from more than 3,000 people and delivered recommendations for the future governance of the park.
The company which did the work, Alberta-based Intelligent Futures, even won an award for the public participation it gathered for its comprehensive review.
But two years later, those recommendations remain secret, even though the $800,000 report was paid for by the government of Saskatchewan and the City of Regina.
Michael Fougere, mayor of Regina and chair of the board of Wascana Centre Authority, said the recommendations will stay confidential until the partnership that pays for the park finishes reviewing its options.
"This is a significant report that is huge for the future of Wascana Centre Authority and until we have that review done by the partners we won't release it," Fougere said. "But we'll release it when we're ready and that should be next year."
Fougere said it would not be fair to the partnership that pays for the park's operations to release the information before decisions are made.
The authority that oversees the park gets the bulk of its money from the province, the city and the University of Regina.
A spokesperson with the provincial government confirms that the report is still being reviewed and will not be released before a decision is made on the future governance of the park.
One detail that has become public —through Wascana Centre Authority's most recent budget request to the city of Regina — is the extent of major infrastructure repair that is required in the park.
That budget request says the independent review has noted the authority's "infrastructure deficit is over $70 million."
The CEO of the authority is asking for $2 million in "urgent" repair for next year, when Bernadette McIntyre appears before the city's executive committee today.
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