THUNDER BAY – Mayor Bill Mauro says he’s open to looking at other options for an indoor turf facility, but also noted that council already looked at and rejected resurrecting a dome as a temporary fix.
On Wednesday, McKellar Coun. Brian Hamilton issued an op-ed piece calling on council to consider a dome instead of a $46-million complex originally slated to be built at Chapples Park and already approved by council.
Hamilton was one of seven councillors who later voted against issuing a tender for the project, citing the high cost. He said he recognizes the need for an indoor turf centre, but thinks the city can accomplish the same goal with a much lower price tag.
“I think there’s only one who has said they don’t want to do anything related to a building for multi-use sports,” said Mauro, who has championed the project since taking office in 2018.
“All other councillors, and I think I’m accurate in saying that, have indicated their support to do something. The question is what is the something you want to do, and does it meet the needs of the community?”
Mauro said there are a lot of questions that still remain to be answered.
“The reason we said no to interim options before was because council didn’t feel they met the needs of the community and what the community was looking for, in terms of the multiple user groups.”
The city was previously home to a dome, but it collapsed in 2016 and was not rebuilt on the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds. A private company began clearing land off of Golf Links Road to build a new domed facility, but construction appears to have halted at the project site, which was also eventually supposed to house a hotel.
Constituents have questioned why the city couldn’t follow the lead of the City of Edmonton, which in 2017 built a 135,000 square-foot soccer dome, a $7-million public-private partnership that saw the community chip in $2.9 million in grant money to help cover the cost.
Hamilton said the Thunder Bay project, as currently approved by council, is concerning to many taxpayers, who balk at a $46-million price tag that includes a $15-million debenture taken out by the city.
The first-term councillor said he understands a dome comes with concerns, but said he’s confident with city maintenance crews watching over it, the facility could stand for decades. He believes it would cost a fraction of the current proposed facility’s price, coming in at around $5 million.
“Would this be an ideal project? No. But it could be suitable for our times. Recreation will be a critical pillar of social revitalization post-pandemic. Providing capacities for indoor sports like ultimate Frisbee, football, soccer, and cricket is achievable as well as important,” Hamilton said.
Mauro said at the time the decision was made to go forward with a fixed-roof complex, the bubble concept was firmly rejected.
More than two years later, he acknowledged the idea could be put back on the table.
The city last month held a virtual meeting to discuss the future of the project, which floated a number of options, including moving the proposed site to the Canada Games Complex, reducing the scope of the facility and looking into partnerships with the private sector.
A report is expected as early as September.
