Turf woes force St-Lazare to suspend drop-in soccer

The turf is finished and we are aware of that. We were hoping to make it through the year but it’s getting too bad.

St-Lazare has suspended drop-in soccer after school hours offered by the municipality, due to the state of its aging indoor soccer turf.

The town plans to replace the turf at Complexe Sportif SaintLazare in the coming weeks, but announced last week it will postpone its drop-in soccer hours until this work is completed.

“The decision was made following complaints from residents and organizations. As a paying customer renting this facility, the town expects a certain quality standard,” noted town spokeswoman Geneviève Hamel. “We opted to move our rental hours after the turf is replaced in order to offer our residents and organizations a run for their money.”

The town’s decision to temporarily halt drop-in soccer doesn’t apply to any ice time hours for its public skating offered at the complex, nor does it effect the activities of the local soccer organization which manages its own hours.

The existing synthetic turf has been in place for a decade and has simply worn out, said David Laventure, who heads the Complexe sportif Saint-Lazare. “The turf is finished and we are aware of that,” he said. “We were hoping to make it through the year but it’s getting too bad. I was hoping to do it in the spring or over the summer but at this point there are tears along the seams and it’s getting to the point where it’s just not safe anymore.”

The synthetic turf will be replaced by late February. A contractor/supplier has been hired and it will take about a week or so for the work to completed, Laventure said. The new turf will be a much improved product over the one originally installed at the complex, which opened for business in 2006.

Mayor Robert Grimaudo appreciates the owners of the private sports complex are moving ahead with replacing the synthetic turf.

“The complex will not lose any hours because of this,” he said, adding the town will resume offering indoor pickup soccer once the turf is replaced. “We’ll move the hours we owe them to a later date.”

Meanwhile, the town is still negotiating a long-term deal for its public skating ice time and its indoor soccer needs, Grimaudo said.

Last September, a 10-year contract between the municipality and Complexe Sportif Saint-Lazare expired. Under that deal, the city had purchased 3,800 hours of ice time as well as indoor soccer field time for $634,000 each year and then resold certain hours to local sports associations. Last year, the mayor stated unused ice time at the complex had cost the town about $1.4 million over 10 years.

Grimaudo said while a new contract has yet to be finalized, it will only cover three to five years.

“The direction the new contract is taking is that each organization is responsible for their own hours,” he said. “We will not buy any wasted hours. We will only buy what we need as a town,” he added.

Since last fall, the town has booked hours at the complex on a month-by-month basis. The town is negotiating a long-term deal for about 850 hours a year at a set price for its own needs, which is for public skating and pickup soccer. Local hockey, figure skating and ringette clubs will strike deals for their own hours, the mayor said.

Laventure acknowledged that the complex is now directly billing the local sports organization for their particular ice time or indoor soccer needs.