REGINA – Word that the long-talked about Taylor Field affordable housing project is getting a major infrastructure funding boost was major news to come from a federal-provincial announcement Monday.
At the announcement made at the SUMA convention, it was confirmed by Government Relations Minister Eric Schmalz and federal Secretary of State Buckley Belanger that over $10 million will be invested in the City of Regina's plans for water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure for redevelopment of Taylor Field, which will include up to 500 new housing units.
The funding was part of nearly $26 in funding through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, or CHIF, which is aimed at developing or improving essential water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste infrastructure needed to build more homes faster. Saskatoon and Moose Jaw also are receiving funding from that program, with officials indicating more announcements are still to come.
Mayor Chad Bachynski was asked by reporters what the funding announcement now means for the Taylor Field project and what the next steps are for the City.
“With this announcement, the first step is to get the infrastructure in place,” said Bachynski.
“So that's design work that we will be working on very quickly here. And then the goal will be to get an RFP out to market.” He did not have a timeline to share, other than they wanted to proceed as quickly as possible.
This announcement means the on-again, off-again Taylor Field housing development project, announced back when Michael Fougere had been mayor but which seemed to stall in recent years, appears back on track as a “go.”
Bachynski told reporters he knows there has been “been preliminary conversations with developers throughout the community to gauge that interest, and there's absolutely interest in the Taylor Field development, as there has been for a very long time. So to see that finally come to fruition, and see that we're actually going to see houses be built in that space is extremely exciting.”
This is just the latest major announcement for infrastructure projects in the city of Regina, following on the heels of the opening of applications for the RFP to redevelop the railyards.
“It's incredibly exciting to see multiple announcements,” Bachynski said.
“I think this is a true testament to all levels of government working together. We're seeing the acknowledgement that infrastructure is what's required to build homes, and because we know we need to build homes, and that acknowledgement has occurred, this is what happens. When everybody agrees that this is the path forward, we can make this happen.”
Bachynski told reporters the Yards project and the Taylor Field redevelopment both will reshape the city “in different ways, I would say.”
“The Taylor Field lands, the area that that's in, that is a revitalization opportunity for that area of Regina that we've been looking to do for a long time. So in that sense, that's kind of the way I'd look at that one. The Yards is a bit of a different look. That's a really exciting opportunity on an area down Dewdney (Ave.) where we've completely revamped, redeveloped, and it's right adjacent to our downtown. So two different revitalization opportunities, but both incredibly important to the City.”
There is also optimism from Bachynski that this development will help chip away further at the infrastructure deficit, which Bachynski acknowledged was still at $700 million. On whether this latest announcement will be enough, the Mayor said it is “going to be enough when we get to where we don't have an infrastructure deficit and we have a long-term sustainable plan to keep up with that infrastructure.”
“But this is the first step, and perfection is the enemy of progress, but progress is progress, and that's where we're at today.”
