Assiniboia welcomes Weyburn Red Wings with open arms during ammonia shutdown
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Things are starting to feel a bit more normal at Evraz Place.
The province recently unveiled its roadmap to reopening, a staged approach that sets goals for the province to start loosening restrictions put in place due to COVID-19.
Regina Exhibition Association Limited CEO Tim Reid said the plan gives Evraz Place officials something to look forward to: A possible return to in-person events.
“It certainly suggested our opportunity to systematically progress towards returning to our regular business looks much more positive than it did a few months ago,” Reid said. “It really allows us to start getting back to our traditional business.
“We were on the phone with concert promoters trying to book entertainment. We’re on the phone with exhibition providers to understand routing. It feels like we’re doing the things that we all enjoy in our business.”
And it also meant good news for one of Regina’s top summer events: The Queen City Ex.
“We need to be prepared that, pending the public health authority’s decisions, something is going to be allowed to go forward around Queen City Ex,” Reid said. “Our meeting (Wednesday) morning was what does that look like? How can we be ready?
“We’ve always said that 90 days out, we wanted to make a decision and, as a corporation, based on the announcement (Tuesday), we’re planning as if Queen City Exhibition is going to go forward this summer.
“We’re carrying two scenarios right now. One of them is a very traditional Queen City Exhibition minus the activation of the International Trade Centre and the Canada Centre, just given the commitments we have to (COVID) testing and as well as the vaccination clinics. Then we have one where the event is completely outdoors.”
Reid also said that as of now, Evraz Place already has some musical guests booked for the Ex if public health orders allow concerts.
Reid said the announcement of the roadmap also allows REAL to start hiring back staff and begin preparing to welcome people through the doors of the Brandt Centre, Co-operators Centre and EventPlex.
Step 1 of the plan allows Evraz Place to welcome people back to its rec facilities. Step 2 allows officials to begin planning to use the venue, with Step 3 hopefully leading to major events, such as Saskatchewan Roughriders games, in some capacity.
“We recognize there’s many steps and lots of process and lots of uncertainty on the horizon. But at least we can get back to doing the things, progressively, that we’ve always done,” Reid said.
“There’s lots of work to be done to get the machine that is the Regina Exhibition Association Limited turned back on so that when you come to your next event, your next practice, your next concert, that the concessions are operating and that the business that is Evraz Place is back to what everybody has come to expect.”
And when they do come back to full operations, Reid said fans are in for a treat. He said there are hold dates for events in the final quarter of 2021 and around 35 already for 2022.