THUNDER BAY – A decision to get the ball rolling on a new $30-million indoor turf facility will likely come later this month.
Thunder Bay city council on Monday night received a first report from administration, setting a date in three weeks to vote on whether to support pursuing the fixed structure multi-purpose sports and recreation centre in Chapples Park.
The report was initially scheduled to be voted on at the meeting on July 22, but council approved expediting it to June 24.
“We’ve been working on this for about three years now. We’ve had input from every organization you can possibly think of, two or three times,” Coun. Aldo Ruberto said.
“It’s been studied to death. If there’s funding available, we still are going to pursue it no matter when it comes if it comes next week, next month, three months from now or six months from now.”
City administration is recommending council approve the project in principle and provide direction to move forward with $3.6 million worth of preparatory site and engineering work, which would include a traffic study and the operational costs to provide transit service, as well as site specific processes including servicing costs and a geo-technical study to plan design of the facility’s foundation, as well as the development of construction documents.
The report recommends the Chapples Park site, where there could be a future addition for indoor tennis, though the report includes aerial renderings of a facility located across from Delaney Arena or adjacent to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium. Site development at Chapples Park is projected to cost $2.3 million.
The preliminary work is expected to take between eight to 10 months to develop a shovel ready project, pushing the start of construction to 2020 at the earliest.
Since being directed by council in March to explore options for a permanent facility, administration explored using a pre-engineered metal building or an air-supported dome. The recommendation is to proceed with a conventional building, determining that while it would have a larger capital construction cost, long-term maintenance would result in it being a better value over its total lifespan compared to a fabric bubble.
The field size, while smaller than the one included in the January 2018 plan presented by Soccer Northwest and Stantec consulting firm, is FIFA compliant measuring 95 metres in length and 52 metres wide. The facility’s amenities would include dressing rooms, an indoor walking track, concessions and a public viewing area.
The city’s share of the project is estimated to be $10 million.
City council had previously established a standalone indoor turf facility reserve fund, starting with a shuffle of $4 million from the Renew Thunder Bay reserve fund and the commitment of the city’s share of the 2019 municipal accommodation tax revenue, which is expected to be $1 million.
Other potential funding sources identified by administration include a $1 million Stage Two application to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and the city’s $6.9 million enhanced federal gas tax funding in 2019. Administration is recommending the project be identified as a priority for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, which is expected to include a funding stream for recreation projects later this year and could result in senior levels of government covering two-thirds of the costs if deemed eligible.
Mayor Bill Mauro suggested anecdotal conversations he has had with some other councillors leave him feeling positive about the facility's prospects.
"There seems to be a fair bit of commonality in terms of the vision and potential process here. That's encouraging for me, although we're certainly far from a final decision,” Mauro said.
