THUNDER BAY — Activity at Fort William Stadium is about to ramp up as a multi-million dollar renovation reaches its final stages.
Starting this weekend, minor football will take to the new turf field laid down at the stadium.
There were three major projects happening within the stadium: the field turf has been completed on the field, and the new digital scoreboard is up and almost fully connected. For this weekend's games, the lower part of the board is going to be operational. Crews will be connecting the top half next week before high school football starts for the season.
With three to four cameras placed around the field, there will be "live-action shots" that can be displayed on the board as well as space for advertisers.
Internet fibre connections have also been installed, which will allow for live streaming of certain events.
The third and final upgrade is the track. Until that gets completed, there will only be one point of entry onto the field, said city project lead Brian Shott.
"It will be an open construction site while still being used by the user groups. We have a safety plan in place for ensuring public safety and keeping them in certain areas, keeping the users on the field and making sure nobody goes outside of those boundaries." Shott said on Friday.
Work on the track will continue for at least a month, with the first coat of the new track going down. The specialized crews installing it will return in the spring to put the second layer and top coat on the track.
The track can still be used with just a first coat, says city's supervisor of capital facilities construction Kelvin Jankowski.
"If we put lines down, it can be used like a normal track. And then, we would have to put the second quote down and re-line it after that," Jankowski said.
Originally, the budget was pegged at $2.38 million, with local organizations like Thunder Bay Minor Football and Superior Secondary Schools Athletic Association also chipping in. The total posted budget is $4.5 million, with provincial and federal cash from the NOHFC and FedNor.
