Golden Ticket Sports Inc. has been operating the former Hillcrest Sports Centre for 19 months and appears to be exceeding city hall’s expectations in maximizing the venue’s offerings for the community.
The City of Moose Jaw entered into a five-year lease and operating agreement on June 1, 2021, with Golden Ticket for the operation of the building, now the Golden Ticket Sports Centre.
The agreement allows the municipality to broaden public access to the venue while providing a needed community indoor gym and multipurpose recreation space.
“We feel Golden Ticket is doing a great job of providing that access to the people of Moose Jaw for a number of different activities … ,” said Derek Blais, director of parks and recreation, during a recent council meeting.
“And I think we should also commend Golden Ticket for their investment into the facility. Over the last (19) months, they’ve invested over $400,000 into upgrades into the facility so that they’re able to provide the services that they do.”
From July 20 to Nov. 30, 2022, 305 youths participated in camps and programs that Golden Ticket held, which was 93 more youths than in 2021, a council report said.
The venue continues to allocate an average of 25 hours per week for drop-in basketball and volleyball, with 70 monthly members using the venue during drop-in gym times.
As part of the rental usage, the venue has negotiated long-term leases with Moose Jaw Tennis Club, Sowden Flanagan Baseball, Holy Trinity Catholic School Division/Global Sports Academy and Gottselig Athletic Performance.
Golden Ticket has also developed a new partnership with Sask. Dodgeball to offer activities at the venue.
However, all programming that was scheduled in the gym was temporarily moved to local schools because of roof damage during October’s blizzard, the report said. The city expects the gym floor to be repaired and operational by mid- to late January.
As part of the agreement, Golden Ticket Sports provides an annual contribution of five per cent of gross annual revenues to a maximum of $25,000 to the capital reserve fund for future building upgrades.
From June 1 to July 31, 2021, the venue had gross revenues of $29,852.92 and contributed $1,492.65 to the reserve. Meanwhile, from Aug. 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022, it had gross revenues of $181,480.27 and contributed $9,074.01 to the reserve.
Golden Ticket has spent $436,211.49 so far on 10 major upgrades, while the city has spent $1,083,416.10 on improvements in 12 areas.
As part of parks and rec’s 2023-27 capital plan, several projects it plans to pursue at the venue include phase 2 of the roof replacement project (2023), replacing the rooftop air handling units (2023), the final phase of the roof replacement project (2025) and replacing the exterior finishing (2026).
All those projects are expected to cost $1,411,424.
The department is also considering installing an accessible lift since most of the building is inaccessible to anyone with mobility issues, the report said. Such a lift could cost $55,000.
“It continues to be a good partnership,” Blais added.
Golden Ticket has not asked for the lease to be extended because of the roof damage from October, Blais said in response to a council question. Conversely, the city is responsible for relocating the groups that use the building if they cannot operate there. Luckily there has been court time available at schools for them to use.
Coun. Heather Eby appreciated the letter that Golden Ticket Sports sent summarizing its activities, noting the organization experienced a “fantastic increase in program numbers” and is looking for new endeavours.
“So I think that’s really good messaging for that group,” she said, adding this building — once destined for demolition — has found new life. “I think this is a good news story.”
