Mosaic Place is starting to get back to a place of normalcy after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, according to its 2021 annual report to city council on Monday night. 

In 2021, Mosaic Place ran a deficit of about $1.086 million with approximately $1.367 million in revenue and $2.453 million in expenses. The city budgeted for a $710,000 deficit based on a non-COVID year. The actual subsidy was $1.2 million. 

“From the time the budget was created and the time that the actuality of December 31st happened, I would say that it was an absolute ride in terms of the never-ending changes and the adaptation of our business through all the changes of 2021,” said Mosaic Place General Manager Ryan MacIvor. 

Coun. Jamey Logan warned that the events centre may not be out of the woods just yet. 

“There's turmoil on the market. You look at Rider games, you look at the World Juniors, There's a lot of empty seats, and that speaks to inflation and speaks to uncertainty,” Logan said.  

“So, what I'm hoping is that our budget in 2023 reflects some of that turmoil and shows a wary budget moving forward so that we're not overly optimistic.” 

What proved to be a moneymaker for the city was bringing the food and beverage services in-house. It brought in $326,819 in revenue and $93,475 in expenses. About 170 event employees were hired for the food and beverage services. 

The first half of 2021 proved to be challenging for Spectra Management and the City of Moose Jaw as COVID-19 restrictions were still in place that limited the number of large events the facility could host. 

Staff at the arena didn’t sit idle while the facility was closed to the public. About 34,000 square feet of the facility were repainted including the concessions, club area, the main kitchen, the scout room, the media booth, the box office and 21 suites. 

The staff also repaired 161 high-top chairs and all the Plexiglas were buffered and polished. New safety netting was installed in the arena and new signage and lines were painted in the parking lot. 

The second half of 2021 saw the gradually lifted and the return of the live events. MacIvor said they are looking forward to in 2022 but the market has become saturated due to events that have been postponed and new events. 

“A lot of those events, too, also were on sale, pushed and pushed and pushed, and then you added on top of that new event, you had both old events and new events competing for perhaps the same demographic at the same time,” MacIvor said. 

The WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and the AAA Warriors returned to the ice in the latter part of 2021 to help with the bottom line and curling returned to the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre. 

The curling rink saw 7,000 curlers compete in 223 league nights and eight bonspiels. Meanwhile, the hockey rink has 424 bookings for 1497 hours of ice time.  

A lot of those events, too, also were on sale, pushed and pushed and pushed, and then you added on top of that new event, you had both old events and new events competing for perhaps the same demographic at the same time.