Two groups representing athletes and recreation enthusiasts will speak before a Coquitlam advisory committee next month to lobby for a new indoor sports facility.
Chris Wilson of the Sports Centre Users' Association and Joe Basic of the Coquitlam Field Sport Association will pitch the idea at the city's sports council on June 12. Box lacrosse, ball hockey and soccer clubs are desperate for more indoor floor time and, with Coquitlam's population growing, now is the time to consider such a venue to meet future demand, Wilson said.
If the asphalt gets wet during lacrosse games at lacrosse boxes, he argued, "then it's dangerous to play on. Kids will slip and fall."
"Anything above mini-tyke, which is the very youngest level, for the most part, the games need to be played inside," he said. "It's very, very, very difficult to accommodate all of minor lacrosse, junior lacrosse and senior lacrosse right now."
Soccer is also seeing an explosion in its younger ranks "and what they're finding is the kids try it out in the cold and rain, and it's not a great first experience for them and to try to keep them involved in the game," Wilson said.
As a solution, his association is suggesting a "bare bones" covered multi-use facility, about the size of two lacrosse boxes, with a smooth, flat surface.
Where it would be located would be the subject of a feasibility study, should city council approve the concept. (Last week, Coquitlam council green-lighted the sports council's work plan, which included investigating a new indoor covered venue).
Wilson said if such a facility were to be built within the next four years, it could be used during the 2016 BC Summer Games, on which Coquitlam is bidding (a decision won't be announced until November) "and what a nice legacy that would be for the city."
The concept is nothing new: The Coquitlam Centre Users' Association has been talking about such a facility for about two years.
Coun. Craig Hodge, who chairs the sports council, said the need is apparent as dry floor space is at a premium "especially during the winter months, when the fields are closed and the kids don't have anywhere to practise."
"This is something that I want to see a decision made on quickly," said Hodge, a ball hockey coach. "We've been talking about this for years and it's time to start to move it along to the next stage and that's to study where it would go, who the users would be and what kind of facility would we be looking at."
As for its price tag, Hodge said many capital projects are built using development cost charges and casino revenues from the Boulevard Casino the city receives a 10% cut of net proceeds as host to United Boulevard gaming operation, about $10 million a year.
Several years ago, the city raised property taxes to pay for $57 million in renovations at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
