The city has set up a page on its website so residents can track the next steps to building a controversial synthetic turf, multi-purpose youth sports field and parade grounds near Barrie’s waterfront.
City council essentially approved the field, to be located east of Military Heritage Park, and an addition to Southshore Centre for the Sea Cadets new home, on May 15.
The field would measure 100-by-154 metres in size, while the Southshore addition would be 600 square metres, for a total building cost of $9.15 million.
The field would be for soccer, rugby, football and lacrosse, as well as marching, and there could be amenities such as lighting, benches and site furnishings.
“(It’s) an item I believe many of us are getting calls about,” said Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl. “I’m still hearing a lot of different ways in which the public has understood or misunderstood some of how that’s gone from a concept into what might shape the next step.”
A city staff report says next is the project’s tender preparation, the requests for proposal (RFP), from June to July, the RFP bid evaluation and award, August to September, its design from September to December, and construction from October 2024 to July of next year.
Rebecca James-Reid, general manager of Access Barrie, which is the city’s communications arm, said there is now a live, dedicated page on the sports field project, on Barrie.ca, with next steps and answers to frequently asked questions.
The page can be found by clicking here.
“(It) is our normal process for a project that’s been approved by council, especially of this scale,” she said.
Michelle Banfield, the city’s executive director of development services, also said the sports field will be subject to normal procedures.
“While this project is getting a lot of attention, it really is going to be operated and handled like every other parks master plan project,” she said. “Typically, the designer will do two to three options and different layouts and we come up with a preferred option. There’s still a lot of opportunity for feedback.”
But any consultation is on particulars of the project, not whether it’s to be built.
City council has "given direction to proceed on that location,” Kungl said, “with a smaller-scale field and positioning to reduce/avoid impact on the forest, so unless anything comes back through the design-build of concern, the location is firm.
“As I understand it, site-specific considerations and concepts will come forward in the fall through the RFP process with communications planned to launch on the building Barrie website,” she added, “to identify the status of this project and 'when' and 'what' aspects residents can give input on.
“The consultation is not about whether or not to build it, but rather for feedback on components like the type of synthetic turf, stands, seating, etc.,” Kungl said.
Those opposed to the location of the sports field, Friends of Allandale Station Park, held a peaceful rally against the project May 29, outside Barrie City Hall, attracting a few hundred people. Another one is planned for June 12 beginning at 5:30 p.m., again outside city hall on Collier Street.
Rally organizer Arnie Ivsins is encouraging Barrie residents who do not agree with the multi-purpose sports field being located near Barrie's waterfront to meet outside city hall for the peaceful rally.
Ivsins, like many, has said he has problems with how residents learned about the sports field, that there was no dedicated public notification, no public meetings and no public consultations.
City resident Gwen Petreman wrote BarrieToday asking about the field’s use.
“It appears to me that the soccer field would be sitting empty, covered with ice or snow, most of the year,” she said. “I assume it will not be used in October, November, December, January, February, March and April. And, if it is indeed used in May and June, it would only be for a few hours after school is out.
“It makes me wonder even for the months of July and August, when school is out, how many hours will it actually be used?”
This property is zoned and designated open space (OS), which permits the development of a multi-purpose sports field. Accessory uses permitted in OS zoning include bleachers, a club house, concession stand, refreshment pavilion or booth. Parking is also permitted within OS zoning. A paved asphalt 35-stall parking lot is proposed for the sports field.
The project includes a premium synthetic turf, multi-purpose sports field concept, and is estimated to cost $4.6 million. The funding will come from three city reserves: development charges, tax capital and cash-in-lieu of parkland.
A permit is required from Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, because its regulated area crosses the sports field’s top portion. An archaeological assessment is also needed.
The Sea Cadets, long located near the Spirit Catcher, would move to a 600-sq.-m. addition to what’s now named General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre, a northerly extension to the basement of the existing building. It comes with a $4.55-million price tag.
At this point, $300,000 has been committed for the addition’s plan and design. City staff will report back to councillors for future construction funding approval, once costing is refined through the design process. No funding source for the Southshore’s Sea Cadets addition has been identified by the city.
BarrieToday has also hosted a poll this week about the sports field plan, garnering more than 1,100 votes as of Wednesday afternoon. The poll can be viewed by clicking here.
