The City of Moose Jaw is making a change when it comes to the food and beverage services at Mosaic Place. 

City council voted unanimously to award the contract to Spectra Venue Management, the company that already manages Mosaic Place, bringing the food and beverage services in-house. 

The contract with Compass Groups that has been in place since 2011 expires on Wednesday and the city advertised for Request for Proposals (RFP). 

The selection committee consisted of city manager Jim Puffalt, director of parks and recreation Derek Blais, executive director of the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre Derik Cronan and city legal counsel Elaine Anderson. 

Spectra was not included in the selection process to avoid a conflict of interest as the city was aware that they had an interest in the contract. 

There were only two responses to the RFP that were two very different proposals. 

The incumbent, Compass Groups, would have been contracted out on an 18 per cent commission basis. Spectra Venue Management would keep the service in-house. 

Puffalt outlined the advantages of Spectra’s proposal. 

“Spectra Venue Management was looking to bring it in-house and so that would allow us to create our own staffing and have, we believe, better control on product and quality,” he said. 

Puffalt added that the food and beverage service was an issue when he was managing the facility before Spectra came onboard. 

“Some of the issues I heard when I managed the facility were about quality and quantity and so we wanted to when we put up the RFP, we were looking for exceptional food and beverage experience. That included premium seating, the arena bowl concessions, the meeting banquets, weddings, conferences, the lounge and the curling club, and backstage catering.” 

According to the report given to city council on Monday night, city administration recommended giving the contract to Spectra, not only because of greater quality control but greater use of the Great Western Lounge and enhanced services at the curling rink and the expertise from the food and beverage arm of Spectra. 

The proposal would also open the door to having local vendors help with food and drink services. 

Coun. Doug Blanc said food and drinks are a part of the experience at an entertainment facility like Mosaic Place. 

“People go to hockey games, they go to concerts, but that's only part of it,” Blanc said.  

“It's the other part of it that they enjoy too, the food and beverage and whatnot. If one is bad and the other one’s good, it questions where they're going.” 

Coun. Heather Eby felt the change is the perfect scenario. The report to council showed that whoever got the contract would need to take care of the food and drink experience for premium seating, concessions, meetings and banquets, the curling rink lounge and backstage catering. 

Eby said the report showed that it would be too much for a local vendor to take on themselves, but the new contract opens the door for local vendors even though the service is contracted outside of the city. 

“It's more than just burgers at the Civic Centre like what we used to have. When you see that there were, really only two people that responded to the RFP. It does speak to the magnitude of the work over there,” she said. 

The contract would be for five years, with the option for an additional five years, which aligns with the city’s contract with Spectra to manage the building.