Progress

How We’re Doing

Recent History
The multisport fieldhouse project is an idea whose time has finally come.

In 2008, the 10–Year Strategic Plan for Sport Facility Development and Enhancement developed by the City of Calgary and the Calgary Sport Council named indoor tracks, gymnasia, indoor fields and multipurpose rooms as primary needs. A multisport fieldhouse is ideally suited to meet these needs.

In addition, the proposed fieldhouse meets five of six City of Calgary priorities for recreation facilities.

In January 2009, a multisport fieldhouse was included in the City of Calgary’s Proposed Recommendations for Economic Stimulus submitted to the federal government.

The Society has been working in co-operation with the City as it develops a recreation master plan for the Foothills and Glenmore Athletic Parks.

Latest Developments
The conceptual master plans for the Foothills and Glemnore parks were presented to the public at two Open Houses in late April 2010 and unanimously approved by City Council in July 2010. You can see the conceptual plans here  on the City’s website, along with videos showing what the enhanced athletic parks could look like.

The Fieldhouse Society raised funds for a feasibility study in 2009 and the results of Phase 2 of the study released in January 2011 indicate that a multisport fieldhouse in Calgary would almost certainly be self-sustaining.

The conceptual plans for Foothills and Glenmore athletic parks were listed as high priority items on the 2011-2020 CPRIIP (Infrastructure Investment Plans for Culture, Parks, Recreation) and Emergency Response (ERIIP) report.

In early March 2011, it was decided to revise the conceptual plans for Foothills Athletic Park to include the construction of a multisport fieldhouse in an early phase of the project. (The original plans targeted the fieldhouse for the final phase.)

In 2012, Foothills Baseball stadium was returned to the City’s inventory and opened up the possibility that that land could now be included in the concept plans. City Recreation is now exploring the opportunities this development presents.

In April 2013 City Council approved recommendations from the Community Services and Protective Services department to:

• revise the proposed location of the Fieldhouse at Foothills to minimize the impact on existing amenities
• begin looking at how construction of the Fieldhouse might be funded, including Public-Private Partnerships (P3), corporate sponsorship, leasing potential on the site, government grants, innovative funding strategies, e.g., that proposed by Transformation Calgary

Kurt Hansen, Director, Recreation for the City of Calgary, confirmed the high-priority status of the project in January, stating that the City “has made the strategic decision to focus our efforts to advance the development of the Foothills Fieldhouse.”