Keystone Centre looks at upgrades to grounds

The Keystone Centre is planning to revamp its ground space with an outdoor rink, camping area and interpretive trails.

A Keystone board member said the upgrade would enhance the city’s event hub as a welcoming spot for the community.

“This is an enhancement of what we’re currently doing there, but I think more than that, I think it’s showing that we can fill some needs in our community with some amenities that I think we’d get a lot of use and be appreciated by the public to have in our community,” board chair and city Coun. Bruce Luebke said in an interview late last month.

“We’re at the very beginning, I would suggest, of trying to see the Keystone grounds become more than what they currently are.”

The city had identified the Keystone grounds as an area to create a “central park,” Luebke (Ward 6) said.

“I think it’s … a nice enough green space right now, but there’s so much more that could be done there to make it a more attractive space for public use,” he said. “I think we’re looking at it as an opportunity to become even more publicly engaged and be more of a public space than we are currently by adding some amenities into the green space.”

The plan was first formally proposed last December at the board of governor’s meeting, and the centre would now be looking for support from multiple levels of government and the public to create the new space.

Initial discussions with the provincial government have gone well, he said.

Other next steps include finding out how much the work would actually cost and figuring out exactly where on the land a new arena would go down the road. Building a new arena for the Wheat Kings, however, is “at least 10, if not 20 years” away from happening, and a decision on where it would go would only be so the centre can plan better, he said.

He said consultants initially threw out a $30-million cost for the project, which wouldn’t include work on a new arena or an outdoor aquatic complex, the latter of which is the city’s responsibility to pay for.

The timeline for the project, he added, is dependent on funding.

“Whether that’s 10 years or five or three, it all depends on the funding part.”

Luebke said creating a preliminary design before asking for funding is a good step, as it can also get the public on board. The Keystone Centre Foundation and Keystone Centre itself will likely start a funding push in the fall.

Keystone Centre CEO and general manager Connie Lawrence said while the revamping is in the planning stages and hasn’t been committed to at this point, it represents a long-term vision.

“For more than 50 years, the Keystone Centre has been the heart of western Manitoba, bringing together agriculture, sport, entertainment, business and community,” Lawrence said in an email statement. “As our facility continues to age, we have an opportunity to thoughtfully plan for the next generation of infrastructure that will serve our region for decades to come.”

The potential investments would also “strengthen” the Keystone Centre’s ability to host events, she said.

Luebke said the plans, which also include an open recreation lawn, skating oval and added amenities for campers, could change as the plans progress.

“You sometimes start with these plans and you put everything in there that you feel are good ideas, and then when you start costing things out, or you start building things, there’s some things that will likely maybe not come to fruition,” he said.

Some items, like enhancing the camping area with washrooms, is one of the more immediate plans. That’s also a more positive item for the Keystone Centre, as it can bring in revenue that way.

“There’s a lot of questions that do need to be kind of answered as we move forward with this, but I think the first step we want to want to make sure is that there’s an understanding publicly of what we hope to do,” Luebke said.

» alambert@brandonsun.com