Construction for renovating a portion of buildings at the REAL District is set to begin starting in July. The renovations come shortly after the City of Regina approved Brandt’s purchase of several properties at REAL. The first phase of the takeover is set to begin on July 1 starting with the Ag-Ex Buildings. Michael Latimer, president of the board of directors for Canadian Western Agribition (CWA), said the group expects to see some impacts during the construction phase. “We saw that when we had the new International Trade Centre put in. We had the first show on them on dirt floors and we were lucky to get occupancy at that point [but] you work around it,” Latimer told reporters on Wednesday, ahead of the CWA’s 55th annual general meeting. “We’ve adjusted. Agribition started out in tents 55 years ago. We started out with very few facilities so construction isn’t new to us, right?” In preparation for this year’s event, the group’s chief executive officer Shaun Kindopp said it’s actively working with Brandt to ensure any impacts to the livestock and extensive agribusiness trade show are minimal. “I’m fortunate enough to have conversations directly with Shaun Semple with Brandt. We do talk quite frequently,” Kindopp said. “We talked yesterday so again, he’s aware of the risks that we have. It’s something that we’re monitoring.” Kindopp added that the massive event brings in ranchers from around the world and has grown into a week-long event compared to when it first began decades ago. “We were pretty clear at council. We need to make sure that our costings are protected, our footprints are protected, as well as our dates. Agribition doesn’t happen in August,” he said. “We are in fluent conversations with Brandt today on what a new agreement looks like and making sure that Agribition is protected.” The $6.5 million deal between Brandt and the city will see the purchase of the Ag-Ex Building, Canada Centre Building, Commercial Cattle Barn, Queensbury Convention Centre, Stockman’s Building, the Brandt Centre, the Agribition Building, the land lease for the McDonald’s located at 1810 Exhibition Parkway, and the parking lot west of Mosaic Stadium. Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski said the project will benefit the city for decades to come. “Everything from the vision that Brandt has proposed for the campus all the way through to the infrastructure investment,” he said. “It’s not to say that the city couldn’t get there, but we are talking decades. If we look at the financial situation that we were in with REAL and the facilities at the moment, I would say what it does is it accelerates our opportunities for further economic opportunity for the city.” Bachynski added the deal will help ensure the buildings are well-used in the future and not “degrade any further.” As officials work through the logistics of the REAL District’s new ownership, planning is still under for this year’s Canadian Western Agribition happening from Nov. 24 to 29. “[Construction is] something that is always ongoing and something that we deal with, but we’re going to put on the best show that we can,” Latimer said. “We’re confident that we’re going to be able to either elevate everybody’s experience or keep it on par with the previous years.”
