MOOSE JAW — Changes are coming to the Events Centre that will affect not only box office hours and concession payments but also re-entry rules, which will prevent fans and concertgoers from taking smoke breaks during events.
The transition to no re-entry started in March with live events and concerts at the venue, while that policy is now extending to hockey events and games for the 2024-25 season, city hall announced recently.
The City of Moose Jaw and building manager OVG360 collaboratively decided on these changes after consulting with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and industry contacts.
“No re-entry is now commonplace for venues and has already been in place for many years at some venues as best practice,” city hall said by email, pointing to Mosaic Stadium and the Brandt Centre in Regina and Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre as examples.
These new rules will support security with crowd management, including handling people who may be heavily intoxicated, ensuring tickets are valid, reducing time with bag checks and pat downs, minimizing overall risk, maintaining a safe environment and helping find lost children or elderly parents.
Security will make considerations for re-entry for families or those experiencing a medical emergency, the city said. Such compromises have occurred during live events at the venue ever since the re-entry policy was implemented in March.
“Should a patron have an emergency, they can speak with security at the main doors,” the email continued. “Their ticket will be scanned out when they leave, and if they are able to return, the ticket will be scanned in to gain entry back into the game (or event).”
Similar to the policies that other venues have, fans and concertgoers should smoke or vape before they enter. The city pointed out that this is not just about smoking because other factors affect re-entry. However, it also acknowledged that this policy modification will affect people with those habits.
The second change at the Multiplex is to box office hours. The weekday hours for non-event/non-game days were 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but that has changed to 12 to 4 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday.
However, all other box office hours remain the same. This includes 12 to 8 p.m. for WHL Warriors’ game days, one hour before puck drop for the AAA Warriors or concerts and noon until the main act takes the stage for show days.
Tickets also remain available online 24/7 at sasktix.ca.
“The box office hours is a small change to non-event days, only based on activity for in-person ticket purchases,” the city said.
The third change is to payment at concession stands.
There are nine concession locations on the concourse, but five — six, when there is floor seating for events — will move to cashless transactions and accept only debit or credit cards. However, the four main fixed concessions and the Snak Shak will continue to accept cash.
Meanwhile, the two portable draft stations — Tap 105 and Tap 116 — and the Sask. Spirits Bar and Dawg House will accept debit and credit only.
“For the debit- (and) credit-only concessions, customer service is always a priority, and data shows that (that) is quicker to complete your transaction … resulting in our customer getting through the lineups faster,” the city said, adding that many venues use cashless transaction methods since it’s more efficient.