‘Reminded me of a mall at Christmas:’ REAL District dealing with full parking lots

It’s been a busy January at REAL District.

Hockey and soccer seasons are in full swing with games and tournaments happening every weekend at the Co-operators Centre and AffinityPlex and the WHL’s Regina Pats are drawing their biggest crowds in years.

Since Pats superstar Connor Bedard rejoined the team after representing Canada at the world junior hockey championship in Halifax, the WHL club has drawn its three biggest crowds of the season.

That trend is expected to continue Saturday night when the Pats host the Swift Current Broncos for Nickelodeon Night. The Pats are to wear SpongeBob SquarePants jerseys that are being auctioned off.

While the large crowds have been a welcome sight at REAL District after it struggled over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve started to create some issues when it comes to finding a parking spot.

REAL president and CEO Tim Reid says the organization has taken some action to deal with the large crowds making their way to the arena on the weekends.

“Last weekend, we were able to bring in a number of new parking attendants to help with ingress and egress,” he said. “Those were two busy nights and we’re anticipating we’ll have a lot more because the lot itself was very busy.

“Ultimately, the lot flowed pretty well, but from our perspective, it’s a great problem to have.”

While REAL District officials did add more parking attendants to help people get in and out of the lot, Reid said they didn’t notice their ingress and egress times change a whole lot compared to what they were when the lot didn’t have the attendants.

Reid suggests if there is a Pats game or concert and events are also going on at REAL District at the same time, it’ll be important for people to give themselves some extra time to find a spot.

“What we would say to people is the (Brandt Centre) is going to be full — not only this building, but the Co-operators Centre and the AffinityPlex. You’re going to have to give yourself more time,” he explained.

“For those of us used to arriving to a Pats game 30 seconds before puck drop, you’re going to have to give yourself more time because the parking lot is busier and the building is busier.”

While REAL District is dealing with the parking issues and there’s only so much it can do, Reid says it’s refreshing to see the property full after three years of little to no events.

“I was fortunate enough to work enough throughout most of the pandemic and I can tell you looking out my office window or navigating around campus, there’s a lot of time where you’d have three cars in the parking lot,” he said.

“Now last weekend, it reminded me of a mall at Christmas. It was busy. It is significantly busier today than it was a year ago or even six months ago.”

Reid says last weekend, REAL District had two almost sold-out Pats games, a 38-team hockey tournament, a 16-team soccer tournament and events happening at the International Trade Centre.

Reid says it’s very positive to see all this traffic returning to REAL District as it means tourism is bouncing back in the city.