In terms of evaluating communities, one element of the arms race is facilities and amenities obtainable for leisure. That’s one of many causes each Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Regina changed their getting older giant out of doors venues with shiny-new stadiums. They stored up with the occasions, and obtained some main occasions out of it.
 Smaller cities like Brandon are usually not immune from these pressures to compete. The Keystone Centre has introduced a variety of enterprise and occasions to Western Manitoba that will have gone elsewhere. The Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium has additionally performed its half to deliver arts and leisure occasions to Brandon. The Keystone Centre was inbuilt 1973, whereas the WMCA opened in 1969. Brandon residents most likely want to start out the dialog on what they need their leisure future to appear to be.
 Most arenas have a lifespan of 40 years. It’s clear the Keystone Centre’s essential area had a reasonably modern design for its time, and with the addition of luxurious packing containers for the 2010 Memorial Cup, it has served the neighborhood very effectively. It’s connection to the remainder of the power makes it particularly helpful for agricultural and equine occasions. Down the highway in Regina, the 1977-built Brandt Centre has an identical connection to the remainder of its exhibition park. In Saskatoon, SaskTel Centre opened in 1988 with a hockey seating capability of seven,700, and a capability to broaden to 16,000 seats. After renovations, it might home greater than 15,000 for hockey video games.
 Whereas it is very important contemplate each Regina and Saskatoon are bigger cities than Brandon, each communities are actually speaking about new arenas. Lately, a number of ideas for a downtown area, had been proposed by metropolis council in Saskatoon. The one most favoured in a feasibility examine locations the brand new area throughout the road from its essential live performance corridor and conference centre, two blocks from its essential transit hub and a block away from town’s historic restaurant and retail strip. With motels already in place, the idea mirrors the Ice District in Edmonton, and the SHED district in Winnipeg. Regina additionally introduced plans to think about a ten,000-seat facility within the north finish of its downtown core, or its Warehouse District, throughout the tracks from downtown and has fashionable bars and eating places. It might additionally contemplate a website on its exhibition grounds, close to the prevailing Brandt Centre.
 Discussions on each of these area tasks are occurring for various causes. SaskTel Centre is within the far north of Saskatoon. Anybody leaving the world to go south has to go down one highway. Metropolis council is on the lookout for a downtown revitalization challenge, and the Saskatoon Blades WHL crew would definitely profit from being extra central to company sponsors and followers. Parking shouldn’t be a difficulty as there are giant tons close by. In Regina, the Brandt Centre has had mechanical points and sure has seven to 10 years of life left as elements are breaking down. Required constructing alternative is in sight, and may’t be pushed off.
 Westoba Place has been effectively maintained, and that has expanded the lifecycle for this facility because it nears its fifth decade of service. The identical applies to the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. That stated, there are occasions that skip previous Brandon due to constructing obsolescence.
 Regina Exhibition Affiliation Restricted CEO Tim Reid advised CKRM the Brandt Centre generates between $800,000 to $900,000 in income. A brand new facility is projected to generate between $1.8 and $2 million. It’s tough to find out whether or not an identical enhance in income would end in Brandon, however the longer a facility stays in use, the upkeep prices will rise.
 Election years are good occasions for public discussions on a metropolis’s imaginative and prescient for the long run. Ought to Brandon be contemplating a downtown revitalization challenge akin to an area? Ought to it’s paired with a brand new auditorium? Ought to an new area be constructed on the Keystone Centre grounds, with the prevailing Westoba Place repurposed? There’s a want for an indoor soccer facility, or it might be changed into one other equine area or bigger conference house. Will a personal entity see the necessity for a brand new area and construct it themselves away from the Keystone Centre grounds? There’s loads of choices to debate.
 It’s time for Brandonites to have that dialog earlier than they get left behind by progress.
