New city committee will focus on building fieldhouse in Foothills Athletic Park
A new committee to be officially created next month will hope to push a proposal for a new fieldhouse in Calgary across the finish line.
The Foothills Athletic Park redevelopment assessment committee met for the final time Monday to wrap up its work looking at the entire area.
A plan proposed in 2019 looked at redeveloping and revamping the entire area, including Father David Bauer Arena and McMahon Stadium. The new committee fill focus solely on prioritizing the fieldhouse work, which could be built where the current Foothills baseball stadium sits.
"We will be doing some amenity refinement, meeting with our sport groups and external stakeholders, figuring out exactly what that fieldhouse is going to look like in terms of how many courts it will have, how big the track will be," said Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian.
When it was pitched in 2019, the cost for a fieldhouse was estimated to be $285 million. That price tag has undoubtedly increased with inflationary pressures, officials told the committee, though a new cost hasn't been figured out yet.
The investment would be worthwhile, according to some sport groups.
"We couldn't be more excited about this. It's something we've been waiting for for a long time and something, really, that's dearly needed," said Paula McKenzie with Calgary Track and Field.
McKenzie said the association isn't able to meet the demand for people who want to take part in the sport year-round. They've simply run out of indoor track room given the facilities the city has currently.
Tourism Calgary has also said a new fieldhouse could bring in about $20 million annually to the city when various events are held.
"If we did have a dedicated fieldhouse, if we had a dedicated indoor track and field facility, we could easily attract these national and international events," McKenzie added.
City officials said there's about $109 million in funding set aside for a new fieldhouse, but they're hoping the provincial and federal governments will step up to the plate to provide money.
“This is a project that is for everyday Calgarians," said Mian.
"This is where your minor soccer families and parents, who right now are driving to Edmonton and have been doing that for far too long. And so getting a project started and built sooner than later is always a priority.”
The new committee will be established at the Feb. 14 council meeting.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.