Mosaic Place is 10 years old and is showing its age, which is why it wants more than $220,000 in capital funding next year to upgrade several items.
Spectra Venue Management Services — which oversees the building — wants to develop a new website for $37,100, retrofit all lights to LEDs for $64,706.64, upgrade all food and beverage equipment for $42,400, undertake deferred repairs for $52,000 and upgrade ticketing equipment for $24,200. These five total $222,406.64.
It also wants to add new rigging steel to the venue’s five-year capital plan. The projected project cost is $994,217.
During the second 2022 budget meeting, held on Dec. 13, city council voted 4-2 to fund the website project; voted unanimously to fund LED retrofits; and voted 5-1 to fund food and beverage equipment upgrades.
Council also voted unanimously to fund deferred maintenance repairs; voted 5-1 to purchase new ticketing equipment, with the funding to come from the DFFH equipment reserve control account; and voted 5-1 to include new rigging steel in the five-year capital plan.
Councillors Jamey Logan and Dawn Luhning opposed the website; Logan opposed the rigging steel; and Luhning was opposed to the food and beverage equipment and the ticketing equipment.
Ryan MacIvor, general manager of Mosaic Place, presented the capital report during the meeting.
Councillor’s concerns
“There’s a lot of expense here. I have some issues with a few things, but I understand the challenges that you’re faced with over there with capital upgrades … ,” said Luhning, who noted council gave the venue plenty of money this year. “But again, challenges around the budget. We’ve got to be realistic with what we can pay for now and pay for in a couple of years.”
Luhning thought using investment income to fund some projects would be a better option. This would also be preferable than moving $500,000 from investments into the operating budget to mask an increase in that budget’s equipment reserve, which will “come back to roost with us next year.”
Website
The website was built in 2011 and has not been updated since, while it is outdated, difficult to maintain and cumbersome to use, said MacIvor. Furthermore, the website puts Mosaic Place behind its competition, while there is no flow through the site.
The system’s backend is problematic since whenever problems arise, most building staff don’t have the skillset to solve them because of the system’s age, he added.
LED lighting
More than 1,840 incandescent lightbulbs need to be changed to the more energy-efficient LEDs, although since Spectra took over in 2019, over 463 bulbs have changed to LEDs, saving $5,322.30 in utility costs, said MacIvor.
Also, building staff have replaced 101 exterior building lights with LEDs, saving $4,267.95 in utility costs.
Meanwhile, the federal government has provided funds to the municipality to install a solar array on Mosaic Place, which should save roughly $21,900 in annual utility costs, he added.
Food and beverage
Much of the food and beverage equipment came from the former Crush Can stadium and is at least 15 years old, said MacIvor. The major items that need replacing include two keg units, three merchandising fridges, and two stand-up freezers that either are inoperable or work intermittently.
The current eight-ounce kettle popcorn machines are also from the Crushed Can and are undersized, old, and cause quality issues, he added. This has forced Spectra to rent two used 32-ounce machines to cook more popcorn and provide a better product.
Deferred repairs
Several mechanical and equipment items failed this year and need to be replaced, MacIvor said.
Some include a commercial hot water tank, carbon dioxide sensors, a fire suppression system in the concessions and kitchen, hydraulics in the overhead fire doors and west bay doors, flooring in the showers in the curling locker rooms and family bathrooms, and the public address system.
Ticketing equipment
Council purchased new ticketing equipment this year as part of the SaskTix.ca program. MacIvor indicated that this project will transfer the assets from city hall’s financial books to the equipment reserve of Mosaic Place “to clean up assets.”
Rigging steel
Installing rigging steel would make Mosaic Place more cost-effective and competitive with other venues, said MacIvor. Most large touring shows require one full pre-production day to hang the equipment here; it takes a few hours in venues with rigging steel.
It also costs $2,500 to rent one boom lift to install that equipment, although four units were required to hang equipment during the 2020 Brad Paisley show, he added. Three lifts are normally required for most shows; five shows a year equals $37,500 in extra costs.
