BRANDON—The Manitoba government has approved a $375,000 Keystone Centre operating grant for 2019-20 and, with its partners, finalized the new governance structure, Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires announced here today.
“We remain committed to ensuring the Keystone Centre is a viable and valuable community hub and economic driver for the City of Brandon and surrounding area,” Squires said. “Our government recognizes the continued improvements and efficiencies the Keystone Centre has implemented, and encourage its efforts to attract new and bigger national and international events.”
Ongoing provincial support will place the Keystone Centre on a solid footing to implement the business plan developed to address the centre’s long-term needs.
“Earlier this year we invested $2.9 million to retire the Keystone Centre’s debt including its outstanding mortgage,” added Squires. “We wanted to ensure the money being spent on debt servicing would be available for operational or capital infrastructure projects.”
A meeting with the Keystone leadership group today also finalized the new governance approach with a formal approval of the renewed governance model. This will clarify roles and responsibilities, and empower the board of directors to govern the Keystone Centre.
The Keystone Centre is a unique multi-functional facility, which hosts a variety of local, provincial, national and international events. Located on 90 acres in Brandon, the centre offers 540,000 square feet of multi-use space and hosts more than 1,500 events annually. These activities contribute to the social, recreational, cultural and agricultural fabric of the area, and the Keystone Centre is one of Westman’s largest economic catalysts, generating over $62 million in annual economic activity for the province.
(Province of MB News Release)
