September 20, 2012

Regina huddles to find new stadium builder

REGINA

Regina city council has voted to spend $2.5 million to find a builder for a new football stadium, despite calls for a referendum on the issue.

Council decided Monday in favour of adopting a public-private partnership to construct the new $275-million home for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Before the vote was held, 15 people came before councillors to argue that the city should give taxpayers a say on the millions of public dollars that will be spent on the development.

Katherine Arbuthnott, who was among the presenters, says housing should be the city’s first priority, not a new stadium.

But Mayor Pat Fiacco says council has already decided a referendum will not be held, and that they’re hearing support for the project from far more people than those who showed up to oppose it.

Fiacco says public feedback will be collected in the next two or three months after conceptual drawings of the new stadium are released soon.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2012

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