Both sides on the multi-use indoor turf facility discussion came out in the lengthy discussion, but some compromise may be on the horizon.
City Manager Norm Gale held decorum in a nearly four hour meeting Thursday, that discussed how to further proceed with the ratified project, after council decided in late March not to award the tender to the Tom Jones Corporation.
Many councillors, including Current River’s Andrew Foulds, felt there should be give and take when it comes to getting shovels into the ground.
“I think we all have to perhaps check our egos at the door,” Foulds stressed to council. “Perhaps we should check our visions of what we were hoping for [for this facility] at the door and see what we can get done that balances the interests and needs of [the user groups in the community].”
Gale mentioned that before the report is brought back to council, any elected official can bring forward a resolution that changes the location of the facility. At Large councillor Mark Bentz is skeptical that all the decision making on the facility can get done before the next municipal election.
“The decision point will come right before an election and good luck with that,” Bentz remarked. “We’re at the end of term here, we should be looking for quick fixes, not re-designing the entire project at even greater costs.”
That wasn’t the only time length of this council came up. Aldo Ruberto pointed out not only is there money available, but there is time. “People are saying ‘Our term is almost over’ … no, it’s not. We still have over a year and a half left.”
But McKellar’s Brian Hamilton wasn’t so sure “What I see here is an incomplete project… coming to councillor Bentz’s point, end of term, and there’s a lot of detail we just don’t know”. He supports a temporary structure until a permanent solution is found.
As far as the whole meeting itself was concerned, one councillor appreciated the purpose of the meeting, but that was it.
Rebecca Johnson was discouraged at the roughly four hours spent on this facility, especially during a pandemic. “Our residents, some of who can’t afford to buy food, some have no jobs anymore, some can’t pay their rent.”
Northwood Councillor Shelby Ch’ng wasn’t a fan of discussing bubble options because in her mind that decision was already made.
“The options to a bubble wasn’t right because council said it wasn’t right for the community,” Ch’ng exclaimed. “That’s when we decided to go down the path we’re on so don’t pretend that we didn’t see these options before and now we need to backtrack.”
She also repeated, as did other councillors, this isn’t just a soccerplex, in noting it’s for many sports.
City Manager Norm Gale promised that administration would come back with a report in the fall, based on all that was said in the evening.
“You talk about a potpourri of issues that [administration] have to deal with. If you can grab information from this gathering and come back with something valid by September or October, I would think you are a genius,” joked Red River’s Brian McKinnon. “But all I can say is good luck.”
The original funding from the city for the facility was pegged between $30 million to $40 million, but council heard back in March that the number had ballooned to $46 million dollars, which includes $8.8 million in interest payments on a $16.6 million dollar debenture.
Breaking Down the Funds
- Approximately $8.8 million in interest payments on a $16.6 million dollar debenture
- Just over $15 million from a dedicated reserve fund
- $1.6 million in MAT tax revenues
- $3.3 million from the Renew Thunder Bay Reserve Fund
- $300,000 from FedNor
The search for a new facility was spurred on following the collapse of the Sportsdome on the CLE Grounds in a November 2016 snowstorm.
It threw the soccer community into chaos since both men’s and women’s clubs were forced to cancel their seasons because there was no place to play.
Project Scope (Pre-engineered Metal Building):
• Synthetic Turf Playing Surface (310’ x 190’), 40’ height clearance, dividable into ¼ pitch (with automated curtains)
• Dressing rooms and referee change area
• Indoor walking track
• Concession, public lobby/entrance, washrooms
• Tournament hosting, spectator capacity
• Storage space, administrative space
• Mechanical/electrical
• Generator
• Pedestrian/transit connectivity, parking, landscaping
• Clean, Green and Beautiful (Diamond); energy efficient; AODA compliance; other legislative
With files from Geoff Waterfield