Multiplex

Council votes to pursue split facility at two locations

CAMBRIDGE — Can you still call it a multiplex if it is going to be split up?

Cambridge council voted Monday to build the proposed all-in-one facility in two pieces: an aquatics centre in one spot and a facility for ice pads and gyms elsewhere.

Little cheers erupted from the crowd after politicians voted unanimously on the motion after months of heated debates on the controversial multiplex project.

“I’m very pleased with where this is heading. We’ve gone through a 17-month sort of excursion of looking at different options,” Mayor Doug Craig said. “I think the main thing coming out of this is council has listened to the public in terms of what it wants.”

Council also voted to explore multiple sites for each of the two facilities including the possibility of partnerships like the Cambridge Centre mall, Conestoga College and the Cambridge Ice Park.

John Cook, vice president of Buckingham Sports, operators of the Cambridge Ice Park, said he was shocked when he heard about the mall’s proposal.

He said his private facility has two ice rinks and they have plans to add two more.

“We’re not going to spend millions of dollars and end up in competition (with the city),” he explained.

Cook repeated his company’s offer to consider a partnership with the city. Council invited all potential partners to submit expressions of interest to partner with the city on either the aquatics centre or the other part of the facility.

“To me this sounds to be very feasible, especially when considering multiplex partners,” Coun. Jan Liggett said.

It was a short and sweet meeting that ended with a sigh of relief after 17 months of hand-wringing, protests and petitions.

The uproar over the city’s massive multiplex project began when residents rallied

against council’s first-proposed location of Conestoga College.

While the leased parcel of land just south of Highway 401 is still on the table, everyone seems pleased with the direction council is taking.

The idea to split the facility into two pieces was one of four options council was given at a meeting in June.

The others were; cancel the project, go with Conestoga College or pick one of the four sites shortlisted by the multiplex task force.

Politicians spent the summer mulling over the options. Splitting the facility into pieces was seen as a more economically feasible option at the time. It would also require smaller parcels of land.

A recent expression of interest from the Cambridge Centre mall is also a beacon of light for many residents and politicians.

“It is an environmentally sound location … we have a transit hub there, most of the infrastructure needed already exists,” Coun. Pam Wolf said.

“It’s like a dream come true for most of us,” resident Rande Keffer said of the option to put the facility at Cambridge Centre mall.

She also suggested building the pool just a bit down the street at the flea market, one of the shortlisted sites for the multiplex.

“It can be only a block away. This is a win-win for everyone involved. It will allow for the city to be economically viable.”

Staff is expected to return to council with a report in December.