Regina providing $1M for Brandt Centre upgrades

The city is chipping in for the 2018 Memorial Cup, as well as a facelift for the Brandt Centre ahead of the tournament.

Regina city council voted in favour of providing $250,000 for Memorial Cup operations and $1,012,200 for Brandt Centre upgrades.

The money is a part of $3,635,200 in renovations to the 40-year-old facility.

Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) CEO Mark Allan said there will be Memorial Cup-specific upgrades in the budget but that’s not all.

“A big proportion of the money that’s going for the Brandt Centre upgrades is for long-term improvements,” Allan said.

Allan said this will include new boards and glass at the ice-level and major renovations to the lower Brandt Centre.

Allan said about 300,000 per year use the centre for a variety of events during the year.

The $250,000 will go towards different events that will occur during the tournament in Regina.

REAL was originally seeking over $1.3 million from the city but that was scaled back due to REAL not including a sound system upgrade at this time.

REAL still needs $2,623,000 in additional funding. This is $1,000,000 from the Memorial Cup committee and $1,623,000 from REAL itself.

Renovations begin next week and will continue throughout the year.