Sports ‘destination park’ in the works
St. Clair College details plans for $20M revamp of outdoor athletics complex
Details about a proposed $20-million state-of-the-art Sports Park at St. Clair College surfaced on the very day the University of Windsor held an open house about its own planned recreation centre. Concept drawings for the $73-million Lancer Sport and Recreation Centre were on display at a university campus event Wednesday. That same day, details about St. Clair’s proposal to revamp and expand its outdoor facilities appeared in a tweet from the college’s Student Representative Council. Plans there call for a soccer stadium, a softball stadium, sand volleyball courts and potentially an indoor tennis facility and a soccer dome with retractable roof. The complex will feature an interactive jumbo scoreboard worth $400,000.
The grounds will boast a $1.3-million walking path with streetscape lighting, landscaping and dramatic gateway entrance. “It’s a destination park,” said Ron Seguin, the college’s vice-president of international relations, training and campus development. College officials weren’t quite ready to go public with specifics about the project but relented once the SRC tweet spilled the beans. “It’s going to be a beautiful place designed to attract students across the country,” Seguin said while stressing concept drawings that accompanied the SRC story are far from finalized.
“Those concepts may not be the reality,” he said. “Our architects are in a redesign so to speak.” Several changes were made to meet the regulatory requirements of the Ministry of Transportation and the Essex Region Conservation Authority.
A memo from Seguin and college president Patti France outlined details of the park to the college’s board of governors at their February meeting.
It calls for a nearly $6-million soccer stadium featuring artificial turf, lighting, dressing rooms, press box, concessions and seating for 1,500. The $5-million indoor tennis facility is described as “futuristic” with five courts, a pro shop, dressing rooms and viewing area. The $3.6-million softball stadium will feature artificial turf, lighting, dressing rooms, press box, concessions and seating for 650. “The ladies’ softball stadium will be by far the best in the country,” Seguin said. Developing such high-end outdoor facilities would complement the college’s $25-million Sportsplex that opened just four years ago.
Seguin hopes construction on the project’s first phase — the walkway — can start by late spring. The SRC, the Student Athletic Association and administration developed a sequential order of all projects with a timeline of two years. Students will contribute $13 million to the project.
“The final touches may change but it’s not going to be chain link fence around a football field,” Seguin said.