A proposed sports dome in the northwest end of the city won’t be happening as the plan has been scrapped by the applicant.
A 58,000-square-foot sports dome, as well as a fieldhouse and a building containing mechanical equipment, was being proposed by Ballsports. The company has a dome in Toronto and had been looking to expand into Barrie.
BarrieToday tried unsuccessfully to speak with officials from Ballsports about their proposed dome, which, if approved by the city, would have been built behind Nouvelle-Alliance high school on Anne Street.
A public meeting to discuss the plan was held in October at Barrie City Hall and saw a packed council chambers.
Deputy Mayor Barry Ward, whose ward includes the proposed location, said he had yet to be told any specifics around why the application was pulled.
“I was told by city staff that in January it had been put on hold so the applicant could review the plans and the feedback from the community,” Ward told BarrieToday. “At a public meeting at the high school, we had 60 to 70 people speaking out against it and, of course, chambers were near full the night we met about it in October.”
Some of the concerns residents had were drainage from the facility, lighting, noise, parking and the location in general.
“It would have allowed for commercial use on educational land and that starts a very dangerous precedent,” said Ward.
The MonAvenir school board owns the 10-acre parcel of land fronting onto Anne Street and tapering back toward Sunnidale Road, but Ballsports would have been responsible for all costs associated with the dome, from design to construction.
The site is surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and open space, such as a cemetery and a nearby ravine.
The dome would have been similar, albeit larger, to a facility on Hanmer Street, which is just a few kilometres away and is a jointly run venture with the City of Barrie.
“That was another issue brought up by many of the residents,” Ward said. “Some liked the idea of another sports facility, but asked why not on the south end where there isn’t anything. The Barrie Sports Dome is not far from the area that was being proposed, so two in close proximity didn't make a lot of sense.”
