Estimated cost for soccer dome in West Kelowna swells to $2.5M
City council faces choice of pitching in more tax dollars or requiring soccer group to contribute more
Costs for an inflatable soccer dome in West Kelowna have ballooned to more than twice what was initially projected.
It will cost $2.5 million, rather than $1 million, to build the indoor pitch, city council is to hear today from staff.
The lower estimate was derived from considering what it cost to build an indoor soccer dome in Kelowna. However, that assessment did not include the substantial amount of advance fundraising accomplished by soccer enthusiasts.
“The Kelowna indoor dome received many donations of products, services, and/or discounts, which artificially reduced the cost of their dome,” West Kelowna city manager Jim Zaffino writes in a report to council.
“We cannot rely on donations, and the costs quoted in this report do not include donations,” Zaffino writes.
One option presented to council for consideration is requiring the Westside Youth Soccer Association to raise $2.2 million of the $2.5-million project cost before the indoor pitch proposal moves forward.
Another option is for council, which has already pledged $475,000 of taxpayer money toward the project, to up its ante by a further $500,000. That would require the soccer association to contribute $1.6 million.
A third proposal is for the city to cover about $2 million of the dome’s cost, with the association raising about $600,000.
About 1,000 children and teens are enrolled in Westside soccer. With the dome, many of them could play the game year-round.
If the soccer dome is ever built, it will lose about $10,000 a year according to the current business model, council will hear.