An $800,000 FIFA artificial soccer field and dome will be installed by October where residents want it - within Lakeshore Collegiate Institute's existing running track.
Toronto trustees voted Wednesday night, March 10, to negotiate an agreement with Nustadia Recreation Inc. to design, build, finance and operate the inflatable dome. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is donating the FIFA field. Under the plan, the turf must be shrunk to 80 per cent of its size to fit."It's a really cool project. It's great for kids. It will be great for the community," said board chair Bruce Davis, the local trustee. "We've really mitigated the impact on the neighbourhood. I think those neighbours should be happy."Last December, many residents expressed fierce, vocal opposition to three board proposals to locate the soccer field and dome in the northwest corner of the high school campus. Residents cited noise, lighting, parking and 'bubble' size concerns with the site, mere metres from the backyards of Twenty-Second Street homes.Instead, residents championed locating the soccer field and dome within the school track."For the community and for the kids, I think this is the best answer," local resident Jem Cain said of the soccer turf and dome inside the track option after the community meeting in December. "If the facility works well and the community has a say, then it will be great for everyone. But if the community feels it was something forced upon them, there will always be friction."A board consultant advised the approved site near Birmingham Street will provide adequate parking, Davis said, both on the street and in Lakeshore Collegiate's parking lot.The FIFA field will be domed from October through February annually.Another public meeting, the date yet to be confirmed, and city agreement on the project's site plan are conditions of the project.Davis stressed the plan turns on finding as much as $300,000 needed to relocate the school's football field - currently inside the running track - to the north.The trustee said he is in talks with partners."I'm hopeful we can make this happen," Davis said. "We've listened to the community. People are sometimes cynical about politics and how government responds...We've genuinely tried to listen to what people had to say. We've tried to make some compromises."One casualty of the project is likely to be Don Russell Memorial Park's off-leash dog park. It is located where the football field will be moved.Neighbouring residents may choose to continue walking their dogs on the future football field, Davis said, but eventually its off-leash status will be lost.The city recently opened a new off-leash area less than one kilometre away in Colonel Sam Smith Park."The reality is it's a school campus. We can't have an off-leash dog park," Davis said. "We can't force the issue. We've been pretty laissez-faire about it. But at some point, people need to go to Sam Smith Park."Nustadia won the board's request for proposals over another company.The Hamilton-based firm has developed and operates 14 ice pads, three gyms, two tennis facilities with domes and two sports fields with domes across Canada, board staff report.Nustadia will manage the soccer field's permit process, and retain permit revenues, Davis said.Davis said he sees the plan as a win-win for students and the community."The board will use the field and dome for gym classes, soccer and lacrosse during the day as an improved board asset," he said. "Adult soccer leagues will be able to play here rather than go to Woodbridge. The community will have free time on it in the summer. The city will run camps in July and August."