New fieldhouse committee to hold inaugural meeting on Wednesday
By: Brodie Thomas Posted: Feb 25, 2023
A new council committee tasked with getting a multisport fieldhouse constructed in Calgary will meet for the first time this week, and advocates for the project say it’s a step in the right direction.
The Multisport Fieldhouse Committee meets for the first time Wednesday. It is replacing the Foothills Athletic Park Redevelopment Assessment Committee, which was disbanded last month.
While the previous committee looked at the larger development of the area around McMahon Stadium, this new committee will focus specifically on the fieldhouse.
Dale Schoenthaler, a board member on the Calgary Multisport Fieldhouse Society and head coach of the University of Calgary Athletics Club, said the focused approach is what’s needed right now.
“I think when they were looking at the big, big picture, it was just too overwhelming,” he said.
Schoenthaler said Calgary is the only major city in Canada that doesn’t have an indoor fieldhouse capable of hosting track and field events.
He said members of the U of C Athletic team are in Saskatoon this week for a western Canada competition, and he wants to see Calgary benefit economically from the hosting of such events.
When constructed, the fieldhouse wouldn’t just be for elite athletes. Schoenthaler listed off games such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, lacrosse, field hockey and ultimate frisbee as examples of sports that would be accommodated.
“Right now we have 21 sporting groups that are asking and would love to have training space,” he said.
The city has already earmarked $109 million in funding for the fieldhouse, including $20 million set aside in the most recent budget.
The hope is to secure one-third shares of funding from the other two levels of government.
Committee chair Jasmine Mian said the project has been identified as a need since 2008, and the previous committee has already come up with a concept for the entire Foothills Athletic Park.
“At that concept level, there wasn’t more to really accomplish,” she said. “But what needed to start happening is, the concept needed to be put into action and so there has to be a first mover in the fieldhouse is something that the city had already set aside money for.”
She said the design of the building is still up in the air, although there are some early conceptual designs on paper.
“What we’ve asked administration to do is to consider that vision and also the operational and event-hosting requirements to make sure that this is a great facility that can host events that can meet community need, and bring forward suggestions of exactly how it’s going to look,” said Mian.
At the Wednesday meeting, they’ll be opening the floor to any citizens who want to speak about the need for a fieldhouse, and what they’d like to see incorporated in it.
Mian said they’re expecting to hear not only from the sporting community, but also from organizations like Tourism Calgary, the Calgary Chamber and the Calgary Construction Association, who can speak to the economic impact of a new fieldhouse.
Although she is a former Olympian with a love of sport, Mian said she is trying to lead this project because she knows it will be used by everyday Calgarians.
“It’s not just for Olympic athletes or amateur athletes,” she said. “It’s for little kids learning to play soccer for the first time right up to your senior citizens who are looking to stay active and healthy.”