Muscowpetung FN says city has been sitting on proposal for the Yards

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For two years, Muscowpetung First Nation has been waiting for the City of Regina’s response to a proposal to build an Indigenous business hub on the former rail lands known as the Yards.

Therefore, it was “surprising” when the First Nation heard that the downtown property was being considered as a possible site for a new baseball stadium.

“Nothing has been relayed to us that they were looking at other groups for this, and so it caught us off guard,” CEO Myke Agecoutay of Muscowpetung Saulteaux Business Development (MSBD) said in a recent interview.

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The Yards has sat vacant since Canadian Pacific Railway moved its rail yards in 2012. The 17-acre property was included under the umbrella of the Regina Revitalization Initiative as a developable space the city is keen to engage.

A neighbourhood plan, which was approved in 2020, re-envisioned the property as a connective alley with a “mix of residential, shopping and entertainment opportunities in a walkable environment.” The land was once on a short list for the Lawson Aquatic Centre’s replacement and eyed for a new multi-event arena to replace the Brandt Centre, as well as being central to continued efforts by the Regina Red Sox to build a new stadium.

Most recently, a motion crafted by Mayor Sandra Masters and Coun. Bob Hawkins (Ward 2) was brought forward in July, asking council to again explore the idea of a baseball stadium at either the Yards or the former site of Taylor Field, despite being ranked as a low priority by the public in surveys done in 2022.

Meanwhile, Muscowpetung’s economic arm has had a proposal in front of the city since 2022, seeking to convert a three-acre portion of the Yards to reserve land in order to construct a business hub.

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Agecoutay said that proposal has been left to stagnate despite initial meetings in which city representatives expressed interest in the idea.

Although city council only approved a fundraising study for the baseball park, not the whole project, Agecoutay said the move has ultimately signalled that the city’s priorities may lie elsewhere when it comes to the Yards.

“We’re trying to have a good dialogue and keep good relations with the city, but we certainly don’t feel that returned,” he said. “It’s like they’re not asking us to leave the table, but they’re certainly handing us our hats.”

Downtown hub envisioned as ‘bridge’

Muscowpetung was granted $60,000 from Indigenous Services Canada’s Community Opportunity Readiness program to pursue the idea of a business hub, which covered the cost of commissioning Oxbow Architecture to design the project.

Lead architect Brad Pickard said the proposed facility looks to “bridge business and culture” by connecting downtown to the Warehouse District, and to incubate Indigenous spaces.

The designed entrance features crossed pillars reminiscent of teepee poles “stitching it to the ground,” while other aspects of the facade pull from Saulteaux regalia and Star Blanket Cree blanketwork.

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Inside, the hub would have retail and office spaces, meeting rooms, a cafe, and a circular ceremony space suspended above a bright atrium to serve as a “meeting room where important decisions are made.”

“It is effectively the cultural bridge between these two,” Pickard said. “That is the most important part of the building.”

Though the original proposal included just this building, Pickard said the current state of limbo led to development of a broader vision for a full campus that utilizes all 17 empty acres of the Yards.

It includes green space, more mixed residential and retail opportunities, and a small campus to house an Indigenous post-secondary education program.

While awaiting the City of Regina’s answer, Agecoutay said Muscowpetung has already missed several opportunities to bid for such institutions that could be housed on the property. More tenants, including law firms and other First Nations, have expressed interest in office space at the proposed hub and remain on tenterhooks.

All aspects of the project adhere to requirements laid out by the city in the Yards’ Neighbourhood Plan, heritage preservation rules and specifications for buildings in the Warehouse District, said Pickard.

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“This is prime land right adjacent to our downtown,” he noted. “It needs to be utilized in a very thoughtful way, and I’m not convinced that a ball diamond is the best use.”

Site embodies ‘land back’ concept

Agecoutay said the First Nation’s interest in the Yards is partly due to its central location, but also because the land falls inside the boundaries of territory agreed to be Muscowpetung’s in Treaty 4, as signed by Chief Cheekuk in 1875.

Muscowpetung, as it stands now, is located about 40 minutes northeast of Regina (close to Fort Qu’Appelle), and is one of the nearest First Nations to the city.

Research by Joan Holmes and Associates, commissioned by the band, concluded that the treaty mapped out land which included the Qu’Appelle Valley and more than half of Regina’s footprint. The western boundary line bisects the city, falling along the west side of downtown.

To turn a few acres at the Yards into to an urban reserve would be an acknowledgment of that, said Agecoutay.

Having a presence there would also be to Regina’s benefit, he added, strengthening the downtown network as “the economic district of our city.”

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“Our community has a real stake in this city, in this land,” he said, adding: “There’s no reason why Indigenous people should be pushed to the outskirts of the city to develop there.”

The move into Regina also wouldn’t be a first. Other nations have urban reserves inside city limits, including Piapot Cree Nation, Carry the Kettle First Nation, Cowessess First Nation, Star Blanket Cree Nation and George Gordon First Nation.

The hesitance to take the First Nation’s proposal further than a meeting table has Agecoutay questioning the city’s commitment to Indigenous partnership on more than a surface level.

He said the current council, including Masters, “has been the least engaged administration, from Muscowpetung’s perspective” in years when it comes to consulting with First Nations.

“In this era of truth and reconciliation, there should be more willingness from the city administration,” he said.

MSBD procurement and labour lead Phil Anaquod said if the issue with the Yards is about property taxation, there is living precedent on negotiating ways to address that loss in revenue for the municipality.

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“We want to participate, to invest into the community,” said Anaquod. “If people don’t think it’s an opportunity now, they should think about it as an opportunity for the future.”

The City of Regina declined the Leader-Post’s request for an interview, and instead provided an emailed statement.

“We appreciate the interest shown in the Yards by the Muscowpetung First Nation and respect the proposal they have brought forward,” it reads. “Administration is carefully considering the land and its use to ensure the land is developed in the best interest of the City of Regina and its residents.”

The Yards is considered a city-held asset until deemed “surplus,” a designation to be discussed Wednesday by executive committee in a report on an updated land disposition strategy.

Once considered by city council, the city said it may “move on to either consider future municipal development or developments like that of Muscowpetung or a combination thereof.”

The statement did not answer questions on whether taxation is a factor, if there are other proposals in the queue for the Yards or Taylor Field, or if exploring a baseball stadium will delay other development on either site.

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Meanwhile, Agecoutay and his team say they will continue to wait.

“The mayor needs to realize you can’t engage to a point and then walk away, which is what’s happened,” said Agecoutay.

“We’ve spent a significant amount of money, time, energy and visionary work into this. To have our project sidelined in the months before an election tells us what this is.”

lkurz@postmedia.com

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