Revolution Place (photo by Shaun Penner)

By Shaun Penner

5,000 seat minimum

Increased capacity the key as Revolution Place reno talks moved to fall budget deliberations

Jul 15, 2020 | 7:55 AM

Grande Prairie City Council will be discussing some major renovations to Revolution Place this coming fall, as options for upgrading the facility were discussed at a Council Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday.

A motion was passed at that meeting to have administration have further details brought back before council on a full scale renovation to the facility, that would include an increase in capacity to at least 5,000 seats and increased conference facility space for the Bowes Event Centre.

For Mayor Bill Given, who voted in favour of the motion, he says he feels if the City is going to proceed with renovations, they should look at doing it on a large scale and not on a piece-by-piece basis.

“Personally, I believe that if we are going to invest in Revolution Place, now is a good opportunity for us to do that full renovation that gets it to a stage where it can have a much greater economic impact.”

Council was presented with two concepts during Tuesday’s meeting. One option included an upgrade to the entrance of the facility that would separate the entries to arena and the Bowes Event Centre, as well as add a few luxury suites and some additional seating to the east end of the arena.

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The other option presented was a full scale renovation that would increase capacity to around 5,000 with 360 degree seating around the ice surface, add 20 luxury suites, increase the square footage in event space, make improvements to the loading dock and add a concourse to the second level that would circle the entire arena. Those changes, as presented, would come in at an estimated cost upwards of $55 million.

A concept provided by TurCon Construction in a report to City Administration, which shows what seating could look like with a full scale renovation on the arena’s west side (Photo: TurCon Construction / City of Grande Prairie)

The report also showed what 360 seating could look like, with increased luxury suites (Photo: TurCon Construction / City of Grande Prairie)

Ultimately, council voted to direct administration to bring back further options to discuss when it comes to a full scale renovation.

“Council asked Administration to get more detailed cost estimates on that concept, so that we could consider whether or not we wanted to move forward with that when we review the 2021 budget.”

The motion, as passed, came with the caveat that the renovation, to whatever extent it might go, include an increase in capacity to at least 5,000 seats. As noted in the presentation to council, many organizers and promoters for events and shows have indicated to Revolution Place staff that they wouldn’t entertain the idea of coming here without that minimum capacity.

“That 5,000 seats is sort of a make or break point,” said Given. “If a venue can promote the fact that it has 5,000 seats, there are certain types of shows that will consider coming.

“If you cannot meet that threshold, then you are not even on the radar.”

He adds without the increase in seating, Grande Prairie residents can expect to continue to see some shows and events make stops in other places, like Dawson Creek and the Encana Events Centre, which boasts a capacity of up to 6,500 for certain events and 4,500 permanent seats.

“If it has felt like Grande Prairie has been off the radar of certain kinds of acts, if people were feeling that, they are feeling something that is 100 per cent true. We have been off the radar because the facility hasn’t been able to accommodate their needs.”

Though Given was clear that his intent is not to oversell such a large scale renovation to council or residents, he did reference information that was presented to council on Tuesday that there would be a positive economic impact with more shows and events coming to Grande Prairie.

“The early indications suggest that a fully built-out facility could have between $3.5-5 million in annual economic spinoff out into the local businesses,” said Given. “I think that is really the issue that council needs to consider.”

A second motion was also passed at Tuesday’s meeting, brought forward by Councillor Dylan Bressey, that stipulates that administration bring a report to the appropriate committee in August that includes a community engagement strategy on potential Revolution Place renovations.

Bressey feels that any project of such a magnitude should include input from residents.

“I think this is an absolutely giant decision that council is looking at. It’s got a huge impact on our downtown core and it’s got an enormous impact on our budget,” said Bressey. “I think the public has a right to weigh in on decisions that are that important and that meaningful.”

He adds that with the next municipal election just over a year away, a topic like this could really see more residents get involved in local issues.

“We should be setting this conversation up so that this can be a public conversation throughout the next election, because that is the best chance residents have to give their say.”

Previous plans for a full scale renovation to the facility have been presented to council in both 2002 and 2013 that came with estimated costs of $13 million and $44 million respectively, which were both turned down. Given told council during Tuesday’s meeting that though the cost to do large scale renovations may seem high right now, any delayed decisions would likely just increase the cost in the future.

“For me the biggest thing is that there will be future councils that will deal with this, and I find myself sitting here today going ‘boy, I wish we would have approved the $13 million’, because that would have been paid off today,” said Given “And, the community also would have had the last nearly 20 years of entertainment and economic activity that that renovation would have brought.”

“I hope there is not a council 20 years from now that says ‘boy, I wish that team in 2020 would have invested $40 million or $50 million, because we would have enjoyed 20 years of economic benefit.”