THUNDER BAY — Residents awaiting answers on a long-debated indoor turf facility will have to wait a little longer.
A city review of a proposed turf centre next to the Canada Games Complex and Community Auditorium is now set to be delivered in September, months later than previously thought.
Staff had previously estimated a report could come in late May, before city council gave additional direction around the review.
That included asking staff not to move forward with other work until soil testing on the site was completed, to rule out environmental contamination, and requesting financial estimates for a second development scenario.
On Monday, council accepted Sept. 11 as the deadline for the review based on a staff recommendation.
Coun. Brian Hamilton, the only one to speak on the issue Monday, asked about the delay.
“Just wondering what’s going on here — no criticism, but … I think when this first came in front of city council, there was some enthusiasm about the project,” he said.
General manager of community services Kelly Robertson pointed to council’s direction to “approach the work sequentially” by waiting for environmental testing results.
In an interview, Soccer Northwest Ontario president Michael Veneziale expressed disappointment, saying he’d expected a report sooner.
“It’s simply another delay that’s going to lead to more cost increases,” he said. “This isn’t blaming administration whatsoever, [but] I can’t believe we haven’t learned from our lessons over the years to move forward as fast as we can.”
“Obviously when you’re doing things one piece at a time, things take longer, and we know when things take longer, they cost more. If costs continue to rise … council just has to accept that was their choice.”
Veneziale said he’d been hopeful a facility could open as soon as the winter of 2024/2025, in a best-case scenario.
“Now with this extra few months’ delay, that doesn’t look like it would be possible, so we’ll have to tack on another lost winter,” he said.
Gerry Broere, the city’s director of asset management, acknowledged even a few months can affect costs.
“We appreciate Soccer Northwest’s urgency,” he said. “Time is money in construction, because inflation isn’t going away, so it potentially does have an impact.”
SNO first pitched its concept to council in December, expressing confidence a hangar-style facility with a full-size field and numerous amenities could be built for $20 million or less.
The facility is meant to provide an indoor venue for soccer and other sports like cricket, Ultimate Frisbee, and football.
Councillors have greeted the SNO concept enthusiastically, hoping it could offer a cheaper alternative to a Chapples Park design rejected over its more than $40 million price tag.
Council approved a $170,000 contract with Stantec to review the SNO proposal in December.
A preliminary review by city staff suggested the SNO concept would cost more like $24 to $26 million, and still fall short of city design guidelines.
After hearing that conclusion, council directed staff to deliver separate cost estimates for the SNO design as proposed, and for a modified design meeting city guidelines.
The review will also include a traffic study and building and foundation design analysis.
A phase one environmental assessment completed as part of the review confirmed an incinerator was located nearby from 1952 to 1972, but found no concrete evidence soil remediation would be required.
Drilling for core samples is currently underway at the site, with initial results expected in the coming weeks.
Veneziale sees questions over soil quality as the only significant barrier to the SNO proposal.
“The location is favoured by basically everybody we speak to,” he said. “It’s the only thing in my opinion that could cause an issue.”
“Even if there are slight complications with the area — you know, if there’s remedial work that needs to be done — I still believe this project is going to go forward.”
