Multi-million dollar indoor soccer complex delayed indefinitely
Construction deferred for lack of funding, U of M re-proposes
JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF
A new soccer complex that could have been built at the U of M as early as October 2007 is now sitting on the back-burner, as the $9.4-million project has been deferred.
“We were really excited about this project being that it would have been a facility that would have attracted thousands of schoolchildren to the university campus on a daily basis,” reported Debbie McCallum, U of M vice-president (administration) at the March 7 senate meeting.
While plans for the soccer complex have not officially been cancelled by the City of Winnipeg, McCallum indicated that plans for its construction on the U of M campus have effectively stopped.
The stadium was to be located on the University of Manitoba Fort Gary campus — on Chancellor Matheson Drive in the lot between University Stadium and the tennis courts. Although on U of M property, the university would not have been paying for the construction or operation of the facility. The U of M’s participation in the project only included a ground-lease.
“There were a number of factors contributing to [the cancellation], not the least of which was the rapidly rising cost of construction,” said McCallum, after stating nothing the university did contributed to the cancellation of the project on U of M grounds.
“It was an issue of additional funding and the inability to secure it,” stated Wayne Bollman, supervisor of property management for the City of Winnipeg.
The original funding for the multi-million dollar project was being provided by the City of Winnipeg ($6 million), the Winnipeg Soccer Federation ($1.5 million) and Laureate Development ($1.9 million), which was also to build the complex.
However, early on in the process, Laureate Development dropped out of the plans without any public explanation or reasoning, leaving the partnership of WSF and the U of M to find a new development company and backer.
As reported in the Manitoban on Dec. 6, 2006, U of M vice-president (administration) Alan Simms stated that although the company dropped out “it will not hinder the rest of the development and things will proceed as planned,” while the WSF still felt the project could be completed by October or November 2007.
According to Bollman, the project has lapsed due to the lack of backing on the side of the WSF, which would have had to contribute an additional amount to the project for it to go ahead.
“What happened was the funding commitment from the city is to a maximum of $6 million and the Soccer Federation, through its connections, raised an additional $1.5 million of the total construction costs,” explained Bollman. Another $2.5 to $3 million was required, which Bollman said essentially must have been provided by third-party financing.
The complex would have included additional parking (possibly available to students during the day), four indoor soccer fields, and one outdoor field. Since construction of the complex never really got underway, the U of M’s terms of use for the resource were not worked out, although it was said at multiple senate meetings that the facility would have been available at some times to U of M students.
The complex was also to further the university’s Sports and Active Living Precinct that has been in place since June 2006. The precinct calls for development in the areas of recreational and athletic facilities on campus in order to improve the active lifestyles of students and faculty.
Bollman said that the city still has funds for the project, and will be willing to continue if more financial backing and potential developers become available through a new request for expression of interest.
“The city is always committed to a maximum of $6 million. Its money is still there,” said Bollman.
“The University of Manitoba will be once again submitting a proposal to the city but at this point it’s up in the air as to where the project might be located,” said McCallum.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed as we really see it as being a great partnership if we can make it work, but it is no longer a guarantee that it will be on the University of Manitoba campus,” she said.
Expressions of interest for involvement in the project must have been submitted by March 12, though the official number of proposals was not available at the time of press.
— With files from Veronica Carr
