Expansion in works for Gordie Howe complex
The Gordie Howe Sports Complex is extending its elbows and expanding its reach beyond football and softball.
While field position and viewing has never been so great at Saskatoon Minor Football (SMF) Field with the addition of new bleachers (complete with individual bucket seating) left over from the 2013 Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium, there’s more on their way.
It’s all part of the Grey Cup Legacy Project through a partnership between the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and the provincial government. And it’s just part of the ever-growing bigger picture which includes the surrounding area behind SMF Field.
“The Gordie Howe Sports Complex will be the sports complex for Canada,” promises Bryan Kosteroski, chair of the Friends of the Bowl Foundation.
“We’re going to have international track standards. We’re going to have international speedskating. We’re going to have baseball and softball opportunities for hosting major events. This whole area will probably be one of the biggest sports structures and complexes in Canada.”
SMF Field already features new spectator stands on the east side with individual seating for 2,500. Stands on the west side are to be installed within the next five or six weeks. Sky boxes will follow.
“We’ll just have to gauge how that goes,” said Kosteroski.
“Right after the last football game here, you’re going to see the Hilltops sound booth taken down and 14 new boxes coming from Mosaic going across the back of the stands there. That’s an exciting time for everybody in Saskatoon.”
Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds was on hand for Sunday’s Prairie Football Conference contest between the host Saskatoon Hilltops and the Edmonton Wildcats to recognize the Grey Cup legacy first-hand.
“It’s real exciting,” said Reynolds. “When we first embarked on expanding Mosaic Stadium for the Grey Cup, we knew we had to have a legacy component to it because a new stadium was on the horizon at that point. And, so, to see it come to fruition as it as and to see these seats actually here — they look like they’ve always belonged here and really complete the facility — and for us to play a part of it, we’re just really proud and happy to see it happen.
“It’s one of those things where you always have it as a vision, but, until you actually see it and the reality of these seats and fans in these seats, and to later come when this facility is complete and 5,000 seats are installed, it’s absolutely going to be a world-class facility here.”
The Grey Cup Legacy Project was conceived in 2012 as the Roughriders increased Mosaic Stadium capacity in preparation for the 2013 Grey Cup. Seven thousand new seats were installed with the goal of donating these seats to amateur sports venues across the province once the new Mosaic Stadium opened. SMF Field is one of seven venues receiving seats.
The contribution of seats and boxes at SMF Field is valued at $4.1 million.
Saskatoon’s SaskTel Soccer Centre’s outdoor fields have also received seating, as well as Naicam School (football field expansion), Swift Current Chinook School Division (track expansion), Kamsack (sports grounds expansion), LaFleche (swimming pool and baseball field expansion) and Grenfell (baseball field expansion).
Future Gordie Howe Sports Complex expansion plans include a new dual shared Clarence Downey speedskating oval and track and field facility, complete with bleacher-like seating, to host national and international events. The main grandstand backing Cairns Field will also be replaced.
There are also future plans for an indoor high-performance training centre and additional fields for football, baseball and softball.
The area will also feature crosscountry ski trails in the winter.
Group partners include Saskatoon Baseball Council, Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association, Saskatoon Track and Field Club, Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club, Saskatoon Minor Football, Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate, Saskatoon Hilltops, Saskatoon Valkyries, Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club and the City of Saskatoon.
“When we approached city council two weeks ago, we asked for $5 million to go to the Gordie Howe Sports Complex master plan,” said Kosteroski, whose group will be launching a $30-million capital campaign in early November on top of the $20.4 million that has been raised so far for the first four phases of the master plan.
“That would bring the city’s commitment to $8.5 million for a $51-million retrofit here at the Gordie Howe Complex.
“Yes, it’s very exciting.”