It’s going to be an important and well-used amenity geared for the community, not for the region.
Mayor George Harvie had that to say at the open house on Wednesday at North Delta Secondary about the plan to build a new track facility at the school in partnership with the school district, a project which is now floated as costing $8 million.
“We’ve looked around to see where we could accommodate this and it always came back to this site. This was originally shaping up to be a regional-type of facility but after talking to people when I became mayor I made the decision this has to be more a community-based facility. To me it’s about opportunities for our youth and seniors,” Harvie told the Optimist
Noting the project needs to move along in order to meet the application deadline for a grant from the federal/provincial Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, Harvie said a few changes may be made but the city will proceed regardless of how much funding in grants comes afterward.
“The feedback I’ve received from the community is they feel very relieved this is going ahead, total support. They’re very appreciative of the city and school board working together to finally get this done,” he said.
The project includes an eight-lane synthetic turf track with directed lighting, a perimeter walking path, a natural grass infield and well as multi-sports court to the side to accommodate tennis and pickle ball.
The plan is to commence the project by December 2020 with completion by September of 2021. The shared use agreement would see students use the facility during scheduled school days and the community during non-school hours or when not in school use.
The district would lease the land to Delta for $1 per year for 60 years with the city assuming construction as well as operational and maintenance duties of the facility.
The project still needs to go to council for final approval.
