SGI considering move to SaskTel building in downtown Regina

They’re already located on the same block in downtown Regina, but now SGI and SaskTel are considering moving in together.

The two Crown corporations have just started the process of considering whether to move SGI’s head office into SaskTel’s head office building on Sask. Drive.

“Having a shared head office would help maintain a strong employment presence while continuing to support local businesses and economic activity in Regina’s core,” explained Charlene Gavel, SaskTel’s CEO, at an event on Monday.

The two companies said they wanted to announce they were looking into the possibility, instead of allowing rumours to swirl.

Both buildings are more than 40 years old – 45 for SaskTel and 47 for SGI. And both will need maintenance and renovations, but SGI’s building is having particular troubles.

Kent Campbell, SGI’s CEO, pointed to needs with the mechanical heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems as well as structural issues.

He said the glass that surrounds most of the building isn’t sealing properly anymore and that leaks and heating issues are becoming bigger.

“We’re doing ongoing maintenance to keep those panels secure, but over time they really should be replaced,” said Campbell.

He said there are issues in the parkade as well – the concrete post tension cable system, which helps with strength, needs monitoring and maintenance and has suffered from water intrusion and corrosion.

And as of Monday, only the first three floors of the building were occupied by employees. A flood from a leaking fire-suppression system in August caused damage on the 11th floor and below. It also put all the elevators out of commission.

Employees have been spread throughout the city, working at the Bank of Canada building, SGI’s Rochdale office and from home.

The glass that surrounds most of the SGI building reportedly isn’t sealing properly anymore and leaks and heating issues are also becoming bigger. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

Campbell couldn’t say how much the work would cost, but he said it was quite significant.

SaskTel will also need maintenance, and part of the investigation the two companies are doing is to find out what that will entail, along with what the requirements would be to set things up for SGI to move in.

“Being able to do a co-location in one building where the capital challenges aren’t as significant, where you can get everybody together, I think just makes more sense,” said Campbell.

He said if they can do everything in one building, it would be a better use of money.

Each company has about 800 employees, and SaskTel’s employees are only using about 56 per cent of its space, while SGI’s are using about 72 per cent of its own space.

“We do have space available, so I think to have a full building here downtown would be great for our employees and the SGI employees to be together as well,” said Gavel.

If the move does happen, Campbell couldn’t say what would happen to the SGI building, which is a prominent part of the city’s skyline. He said a third party has been engaged to examine the options.

“I think I was nine years old when that building was constructed, so I don’t really remember Regina without the SGI building. It is really iconic,” said Campbell.

He said the move would be a way to keep SGI’s footprint downtown while investing in one building, rather than two.