A new fabric-covered facility will be up by next summer for sports groups in Coquitlam.
On Monday, city council unanimously voted to spend $3.9 million for the dry floor to be built on the parking lot beside the Centennial Pavilion, at Poirier Street and Winslow Avenue.
Most of the 25,000-sq. ft., unheated centre will be a urethane floor over concrete - a flooring preferred by the Coquitlam sports groups who took part in the consultation process last month - while the rest of the building will have four change rooms and washrooms for players.
Funding for the capital project will come from the city's infrastructure reserve, with the net operating costs estimated at $148,000 a year.
Coun. Craig Hodge, sports council chairperson, said the 30-plus participants who were part in reviewing the proposal looked at four options that also included the Dogwood West parking lot, Eagle Ridge Field and Town Centre Park (off Pipeline Road).
The Centennial parking lot was picked because of its proximity to the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex, Chimo Pool and Dogwood Pavilion seniors' centre, whose patrons will use the dry floor during the day.
Hodge said many groups - i.e., lacrosse, soccer, ball hockey - are being forced to travel to Port Coquitlam and Port Moody as well in the Fraser Valley to train because of the lack of dry floor space available in Coquitlam.
"It's going to provide a facility that's long been needed and I'm thinking it will be close to fully utilized the moment it opens," Coun. Neal Nicholson said.
"The sports groups came out loud and clear," added Coun. Lou Sekora, the sports council's vice chair. "We need to get on with it."
Still, Mayor Richard Stewart and councillors Brent Asmundson and Terry O'Neill said the project ballooned in size and cost (pricing was estimated between $1 million and $4 million). The facility "was supposed to be a covered lacrosse box," Asmundson said, while raising concerns about the location.
The Poirier precinct already draws many sports enthusiasts, Asmundson suggested, and Eagle Ridge or Town Centre would be better sites for a covered facility.
Stewart said while he respects the sports groups' choice, he's puzzled why council would want to take away parking at the Poirier campus. As well, the mayor said, the city recently paved the Centennial parking lot.
