Could Limoges be the new home of the Nation SportsPlex?
Savage Park on Savage Road in Limoges could be the home of the new Nation SportsPlex, coming during the summer of 2017.
The announcement was made on Thursday, February 16, during a public meeting co-hosted by the Nation Municipality and Saint Joseph Developments. The initial draft of the project includes a new sports dome complex and a multi-purpose clubhouse for the sport, cultural and recreational needs of residents of Limoges and other communities of the Nation Municipality
The project was generally well received by the 100 or so residents who attended the meeting. Several concerns were raised, however. They include the name of the building—some would prefer that it be called the Limoges SportsPlex—, the absence of a swimming pool, the traffic that will be generated by the facility, room for expansion and the hosting capacity of the community hall, which is currently limited to 150 people only,
Despite these concerns, the residents seemed to support the initiative and welcome it with great enthusiasm. “We keep seeing things go up in Embrun or Russell, and Limoges never gets anything”, said Carolyn Bourque, member of Limoges’ recreation committee. “So, I want to thank you for bringing this to us and looking into all the different concerns we’re bringing. I want this. My family wants this. All the people in Limoges said they wanted this, so let’s make it happen please.”
Councilor Francis Brière, took the opportunity to thank the municipality’s council and employees. “They worked hard. Hats off to them, they don’t get enough credit.”
This $ 4 million sports and recreation complex is a Public-Private Partnership (P3) initiative. With the P3 model, the Nation SportsPlex will be risk-free for the Nation Municipality as it will assure residents will receive access to premium timeslots for their many activities.
“The dome will be just over 80 000 sq. ft. and the building itself will be in the range of 7,000 to 10,000 sq. ft.,” said co-owner of Saint Joseph Developments, regional owner of Exit Realty and Limoges resident, A.J. Plant.
“Assuming everything goes well and we figure out what we are going to do about the community centre, by the end of the summer, we’re going to have a dome”, he continued.
The Nation SportsPlex would be unique in eastern Ontario as it would cater its menu of activities to all segments of the population, not just sporting activities. The complex projects to be able to meet the needs of over 35 sports groups, clubs, and associations in offering cultural activities, sport and recreational opportunities.
To the question of how different the Russell Sports Dome will be from the Nation SportsPlex, A.J. Plant quickly replied that both facilities will be complimentary. “We both will have stuff that the other one doesn’t have. I don’t see it as a competing dome but I see it as a complimentary dome, and I’m very excited about the project, it’s going to be awesome.”