THUNDER BAY -- The appeal of a Thunder Bay city council decision allowing the conversion of a former lumber mill building to indoor soccer fields has left local soccer organizers scrambling.
As tbnewswatch.com first reported on Nov.1, the appeal application is signed on behalf of the numbered company by David Robertson, formerly involved in the operation of the Sports Dome.
Artificial turf has been removed from that facility for use in the former Confederation College "bubble," being re-launched by Robert Zanette's RZ Realty Services as an indoor soccer facility.
The grounds for the appeal refer to concerns about site contamination at the Maureen Street industrial site, and failure to comply with the Provincial Policy Statement on land-use planning.
Michael Veneziale, a director of Soccer Northwest and president of the men's soccer league, says the appeal puts 1,500 male and female soccer players as well as the Thunder Bay Chill program in "a predicament" heading into the indoor soccer season.
In an interview on Monday, Veneziale said the soccer groups are looking at every potential alternative, but there's not much available.
"We always knew that even if the Maureen Street location was going to go through, that it was still only a temporary solution," he said, "and with the potential of this not going through (due to the appeal) it sets us back even further. We're running out of time."
The target date for starting play at the sawmill site had been mid-November.
Veneziale said soccer officials will be contacting Lakehead University to see if there might be some available time slots in the LU Hangar.
Failing that, "school gymnasiums are going to be the only opportunity," but he said that's a solution that is far from ideal. "We've put a lot of lines in the water, and hopefully something will come back."
Veneziale noted that the consequences of not having a normal indoor soccer season are far-reaching.
One local parent, he said, is upset and worried because her son is in line for a possible soccer scholarship, but "is going to lose the opportunity to play, practice and improve and possibly miss out on money to help out with education."
Veneziale said he has not spoken to the objectors directly, and the matter of the appeal is in the hands of lawyers.
Tbnewswatch.com has been unable to reach David Robertson for comment.
