Regina Rams, U of S Huskies will be first to test new stadium

The University of Regina Rams will be the first to hit the field in the new Mosaic Stadium. Theteam will play the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on October 1.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for our organization to showcase our product while making history alongside every other participant at new Mosaic Stadium," said U of R Rams Vice President Chris Briltz in a news release.

Theteams are the only university teams in the province, so it was a "good fit", said Kim Onrait for the City of Regina at a press conference on Monday.

The match is the first of three testgames in the new stadium.

The purpose of the game is to test how well the new stadium operates, so attendance will becapped at 16,500 people.

"We want participants to come and enjoy that day from two perspectives," Onrait said.

Fans should enjoy the game, but the ultimate goalis to "put pressure on the systems," he said.

Security, transportation, washrooms, and elevators will be some of the functions under scrutiny.

"This test game has been speculated about for quite some time and I'm very pleased to make this official. This will give us our first chance at making sure that we all have the fantastic experience we envisioned when new Mosaic Stadium officially opens next year," said Mayor Michael Fougere in a press release.

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Tickets for the generalpublic will be available on July 26 and seating will be general admission.

The test games are part of the Regina Revitalization Initiative Stadium Project.

"Substantial completion" of the stadium should be completed byAugust 31, 2016, andminor work will continue into the spring of 2017, according to Onrait.

The$278-millionstadium is expected to officially open next summer.