By paNOW Staff

Federal government may push proposed stadium forward

Jan 25, 2011 | 3:26 PM

There is a little light still shining on Regina’s proposed stadium.

The federal government has spoken publicly, for the first time, about using Regina as a test case in its billion dollar P3 fund, which forbids spending money on facilities primarily for pro-sports teams.

The province has applied for $100 million under that fund arguing the project is multipurpose and would revitalize the neighbourhood.

This brings a glimmer of hope to Ron Styles, currently SaskTel president, but who continues oversees the stadium project as the former president of Crown Investments Corporation.

“We gain an extra measure of optimism that something is going to be there for us in the future,” he said.

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“Until you start to hear back from the federal government it is really hard to start talking about the other options or the what ifs.”

It doesn’t comes as a surprise to Styles, who said the stadium was discussed with the federal government behind closed doors, but he said now that it has been done publicly, it may indicate Ottawa is seriously considering the project.

“They’ve obviously brought it out to the paper or whatever, so they must be giving it strong consideration,” Styles said.

The province is waiting until the end of next month to hear from the federal government before looking at other options.

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