THUNDER BAY -- Lakehead University students are being asked whether or not they support a new athletics facility on campus.
Manuel Cabrera, the chairman of the student-led committee looking into the feasibility of the project, said the Thunder Bay school’s current athletic facilities simply aren’t up to par, at least according to the majority of feedback they’re received in the early stages of their fact-finding mission.
“We are hoping to construct a new facility here that will be initiated mostly for the common student to have space and feel comfortable in an area where they can follow their fitness and their health,” Cabrera said on Wednesday.
Students are looking for a number of detailed changes, he went on to say.
“They want to see a nice, clean open facility with windows and new equipment that isn’t falling apart too often,” Cabrera said, “as well as something like a juice bar, somewhere they can eat, they can relax. A new rock wall has been mentioned as well as a new auxiliary gymnasium where they can have free space and free time.”
During the school year, much of Lakehead’s available gymnasium time is taken up by the school’s varsity sports teams, for practices and games.
Because the project is in its early stages, a budget to cover costs has not been set, nor has a location been chosen. However, Lakehead athletic director Tom Warden said it would be connected in some fashion with the school’s existing facilities, which include the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse and the Hangar, a 50,000 sq. ft building that includes a running track, an artificial turf field, a climbing wall and weight room.
It also houses the school’s new sports medicine clinic.
Warden said if approved, students would be asked to cover a portion of the cost through student fees, but he didn’t rule out seeking government financing to cover a portion of the construction cost.
Information sessions were held last school year to let current students in on the plan and to seek feedback.
“The feedback we’re getting is that students would like to see a new facility. They’d like to see state-of-the-art equipment in it. They’d like to see new space and new opportunities for them, whatever that might be – whether it’s working out or health-based things, whether it’s small kiosks where they could maybe get a juice,” he said.
Warden stressed the projects is only in the preliminary stages at this point.
“We’re effectively asking students what they think. The next stage is to see whether or not the money is available and move to that development and construction and that kind of thing.”
A referendum is planned for the upcoming school year, Cabrera said.
Student volunteer co-ordinator Scott Kramble said it’s a chance for students to have a say in their school’s future and improve the experience for those who follow.
“It’s something that the alumni can say, ‘Oh, we left this legacy to up-and-coming students,’ and to just really enjoy what Thunder Bay has to offer and just be really proud of what they have in a facility,” he said.
