Regina to OK $9M more for Mosaic Stadium food and drink areas

Up to $9 million more has been approved by city councillors for the food and beverage areas at Regina's new Mosaic Stadium, the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Earlier this week, the city's executive committee, which is city council in committee form, approved taking the money out of a stadium reserve fund.

The entire food and beverage setup — everything from pots and pans to a centralized beer distribution system — is expected to cost around $21 million.

The city had previously approved about $12 million of that money.

The food and beverage capital costs are in addition to the $278.2 million figure that the city has been using when discussing the capital costs of the stadium.

"The decision was made based on the value for money principle — the [food and beverage] requirements were more extensive than what was allowed for in the base building contract and more value would be recognized if the [food and beverage] project was completed independently from the base building," Wednesday's executive committee report said.

Food and beverage services are usually handled by one entity in a venue of Mosaic's size, the city said. 

The current submission will see a number of local vendors offering their grub to the stadium's events.

Factored into the costs will be construction of the area, flooring, drywall, painting, electrical, mobile carts, cash registers and digital menus, among other things.

Most of the construction on the stadium wrapped up last fall. The Riders play their first regular season game in the new venue on July 1.

The report has been forwarded to the March 27 meeting for city council to give final approval.