To Dome Or Not To Dome

To Dome or not to Dome has become the question for all Saskatchewan residents and everyone has an opinion on it.
A better question might be, where should this new dome be built. Should it be Regina, the traditional home of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders or should it be Saskatoon, the hub city of the province and central to almost every direction.
First the question of whether a stadium will even be built.
"Today's announcement is an exciting one for the City of Regina, for the Province of Saskatchewan, but make no mistake about it — no decisions have been made on a new facility," Saskatchewan Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff stated at the Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza.
"We have to do the study. We have to examine all aspects. We have to know every facet of what we're talking about. We recognize that Mosaic Stadium is nearing its 100th birthday and has served us well, but something needs to be done.''
The price tag for this, an estimated 350 million dollars on the backs of Saskatchewan taxpayers drawing this comment from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
"They're trying to say that there's not going to be any provincial taxpayers dollars going into this. Well, definitely there's going to have to be heavy Crown involvement if this partnership with Sask Gaming is true," said Lee Harding, the federation's Saskatchewan director.
"There's definitely a heavy, if not a provincial taxpayer component, then certainly a huge commitment from government run enterprises."
Then there is the question of where to build the new stadium. Callers to call shows and emails from Regina were quick to point out that the Riders have been in their city for a hundred years, that Saskatoon already has the University and the Children's
Hospital and so rightly the Riders belong to Regina.
But do they and do not the Saskatchewan Rough Riders claim to be a provincial team? If so would it not be more sensible
to build this new stadium in the center of the province with easy access to many cities instead of just a few. Loyal fans come from as far away as Prince Albert, North Battleford, and one gentleman even claimed for years he had been making the trek down for every game from as far away as Meadow Lake.
It would be one thing to remain in Regina if they were adding on to the present Mosaic Stadium but if a brand new stadium is being constructed than Saskatoon just makes more sense.
And anyway the name Saskatoon SkyDome or Saskatoon SuperDome sounds much better than Regina Retractable Roof Place.