Plans for a massive new recreation facility in Kitchener’s west end were unveiled on Wednesday by the city.
The city says the indoor recreation facility will be built at RBJ Schlegel Park to serve a rapidly growing section of Kitchener.
It will include a FIFA-sized indoor turf field which can be broken into separate fields to allow for four activities to take place at once. In addition to soccer, the field will also be intended for other sports such as cricket and lacrosse.
There will also be a second floor walking track around the field and an indoor batting cage.
The plans also include a community leisure pool and a separate lane pool with galleries which will allow families to watch lessons or other pool activities.
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There will also be a multipurpose space which can be used for community events or rentals.
In addition, the city says that the plans will include the potential for a gymnastics space to be added if funding is found.
“I am beyond excited about this proposed new facility for our community which has the potential to become one of Kitchener’s most significant community gathering spaces, and a wonderful addition to our already popular RBJ Schlegel Park,” Mayor Berry Vrbanovic stated in a release.
“As a community, this long-awaited project gives us an opportunity to create something really special with this new recreation facility – something that will meet the diverse recreational needs of our residents for decades to come.”
The proposal also includes a massive bank of solar panels, which the city says will save $100,000 in utility costs and cut down on its carbon footprint.
The city says that the price tag for the facility comes in at $144 million, and that the bill has already been covered by previous grants allocated by the federal and provincial governments.
It notes that the city is also looking at other potential grants that could be available to fund the project.
The proposal still needs to be approved by council as well as its community and infrastructure services committee over the next couple of months.
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