The Events Centre wants to pursue six capital projects next year, but it’s the proposed new sound system and rigging steel on which city council focused the most recently.
Dean Clarke, regional vice-president of OVG360, presented the proposals during council’s Dec. 11 budget meeting. Council later voted to table the requests for future discussion.
Sound system
Phase 2 of the sound system upgrades will focus on the conference centre, curling centre and all the corridors while the arena bowl sound system is finished, Clarke said. The venue wants to use Sapphire Sound as the sole source contractor again to finish the project since it installed the original equipment.
Mayor Clive Tolley expressed concern about the sound in the bowl, saying he attends many events and finds the public address system to be too loud and muffled. He also receives many complaints from people who also can’t understand the in-house announcer.
In comparison, the mayor said he could hear the announcer clearly during the Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11.
If council agrees to use Sapphire Sound to install the new equipment, he wants the company to audit the entire system to ensure it’s working properly.
Rigging steel
Proper rigging steel — Moose Jaw is at a “significant disadvantage” without it — would ensure a show can be set up within two to four hours and torn down within 1.5 to three hours, said Clarke.
However, it takes six to eight hours — or even a full day — to set up without the steel, while the venue must rent multiple “cumbersome” 80-foot boom lifts to support shows, which can cost about $60,000 annually based on roughly eight shows per year.
Installing the steel will take roughly 14 weeks, which means proper timing is required because management must consider the various hockey seasons and work to mitigate the displacement of those teams, he said.
Clarke added that the entire cost to install the rigging steel is $1.58 million.
The city declined to install the rigging steel when it built the Events Centre, Tolley said. He wondered whether it was still possible to hang the equipment and whether the building was still structurally capable. He also wondered whether the 14-week timeline was firm or an estimate.
Clarke didn’t think the rigging steel would affect the structural integrity, saying the venue was designed to withstand the maximum weight of a show.
“The capacity is there,” he said.
As for installation, the schedule has constantly changed, and OVG360 believes it needs to plan eight months out because of how many events and activities it has booked already, Clarke continued. He reiterated that management didn’t want to interfere with the WHL or AAA games.
The parks and recreation department has worked with venue management to run summer ice successfully during the past couple of years, said Tolley. However, the municipality may have to reduce that to accommodate the installation.
“I think it will be inevitable. But (it will be) short-term pain for long-term gain,” he added.
Coun. Crystal Froese asked what shows Moose Jaw has missed for lack of rigging steel. Clarke replied that it’s usually B-plus to A-plus acts — such as Cirque de Soleil — that tour with six to seven trucks and could generate a massive economic benefit for Moose Jaw.
One issue OVG360 has faced with booking shows in Western and Central Canada is that U.S. artists are now touring for fewer weeks because they want to return home quickly, he continued. For example, instead of travelling for 23 to 25 days in Canada, those musicians are staying for 13 to 15 days.
While the installation cost rises daily, Clarke acknowledged that many communities are struggling financially and can’t install the steel or won’t because it’s not a safety issue.
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