THUNDER BAY – After a push for a $45 million indoor turf facility at Chapples Park failed to win approval under Thunder Bay’s previous city council, sports groups are now endorsing a vision for a cheaper alternative adjacent to the Community Auditorium.
A newly-inaugurated council will hear a presentation from Soccer Northwest Ontario (SNO) requesting a timely review of that vision on Dec. 12.
Michael Veneziale, the regional soccer body’s president, said he’s confident a hangar-style facility could be delivered for under $20 million.
The city has set aside over $17 million in a capital fund intended to support an indoor turf facility, though council could decide to spend those dollars elsewhere.
The SNO proposal has already won the endorsement of indoor turf users and the Community Auditorium itself, Veneziale said.
“We had meetings with all of the potential [major] user groups for the last couple of months going through all of this, and we will have letters of support from every single group,” he said, including cricket, Ultimate Frisbee, minor football, and touch football.
Veneziale said SNO went “back to the drawing board” when the Chapples proposal floundered at city hall, consulting with community groups and businesses, and working with a local firm on the design.
The group proposes a 147-by-56.5 metre building that would include 10 change rooms, a pro shop, concession, gathering area, meeting room, offices, accessible washrooms, a second floor mezzanine, and floor-level seating, Veneziale said.
More importantly, the concept includes a slightly larger field than the previous design considered by council, which could still be divided into four smaller pitches.
“[It] will host the same amount of activities [as] the previous facility, but at half the cost and a location that’s definitely more accessible for everyone,” said Veneziale.
He said the design meets all of the requirements listed in the call to the private sector for expressions of interest to build an indoor turf facility that the city launched last year. Five responses to that call remain in limbo ahead of a staff report to council in January.
Veneziale added the Community Auditorium sees “synergies” with the SNO plan, including in the possibility for 200 additional parking spaces, and will offer a formal letter of support.
He said the proposal is in line with the position city councillors took on the indoor turf facility during the recent election campaign.
“It’s been very well received by [the] current council,” he said. “If you look back at a lot of the platforms of the councillors that are newly elected, they supported something like this.”
Veneziale said the matter of who will operate the facility is “a question for another day.”
“The important part should be getting this facility up so the users can use it,” he said.
He added, however, that the city commonly operates comparable facilities for other major sports.
City manager Norm Gale said city administration is receptive to the proposal, but cautioned it’s not the only ball in the air.
“I offer no comment at this time on what Soccer Northwest may propose,” he said in an interview. “We will listen eagerly along with members of city council to the deputation.”
“We have instructions from council – we’re bringing a report in January, that report will contain recommendations, and those recommendations will consider input from stakeholders not limited to Soccer Northwest Ontario.”
Coun. Mark Bentz, one of several councillors who say they support building an indoor turf facility but rejected a $39 million tender to build at Chapples, called the SNO proposal an exciting development, but echoed Gale’s note of caution.
“I just want to perhaps help set expectations – it’s still a process,” he said. “We can’t just launch into a plan of attack the night of the deputation.”
Still, he said, the proposal seems to address a number of concerns that previously stymied progress.
“If it’s going to be less than half the price, and the location is more economical to build on and is on transit routes and has ample parking, I think that is certainly a win,” he said.
Tony Colistro, executive director of the Thunder Bay Chill, said the club enthusiastically supports the proposal, but he’ll remain only cautiously optimistic after years of setbacks.
“Looking at the challenges we’ve had over the past four years, I think Mike and the team [at] Soccer Northwest Ontario have listened and they’ve tried to answer some of those challenges,” he said. “A facility that comes in at under $20 million, I think a lot of people will support. But we’ll have to wait and see what happens with the powers that be.”
His club, which he said would likely be the largest user group, currently plays on a converted ice rink at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre in the colder months.
It’s an accommodation he’s grateful for, but the limited capacity keeps many children and youth who want to play stranded on waitlists for a majority of the year, he said.
Colistro said there’s a need for city infrastructure to support a sport that’s only growing in popularity, something highlighted by Canada's first World Cup run in 36 years in Qatar.
“We’ve seen massive growth… with how many kids are playing, both recreational and professionally,” he said. “Obviously the success of our national team, both male and female, adds to that. But it’s not the only thing – it’s an affordable game to play, it’s great for the whole social aspect. It’s the most popular game in the world.”
Bentz believes an indoor turf facility could be built within two years, if council can unite around the details.
“There’s a lot of work to do still,” he said. “That’s not to say it’s insurmountable – I think we can probably get this taken care of in the first half of our term, if we do things right and we have consensus – I mean strong consensus, not a split on council.”
Veneziale hopes to see a request for proposals issued to build a facility within months. The building time for the SNO design is around 14 months, he estimated.
“We’ve heard too many times ‘now is not the right time, we can’t do this.’ There shouldn’t be any delays,” he said. “Administration and council have all of the information they need when it comes to the business case studies, the amount of the user groups.”
With files from Vasilios Bellos, TBT News
