Could Wi-Fi 'dead zone' get a boost at Barrie sports complex?

The lowdown on the lack of Wi-Fi at the Barrie Community Sports Complex is there’s no signal.

While on 118 acres of city-owned land on Nursery Road in Springwater Township's Midhurst area, north of the city, it is not part of the Barrie Public Wi-Fi Network.

Shannon Bondi, who was there Saturday to watch her 16-year-old son, A.J., a safety with the Huronia Stallions junior varsity football team in their playoff game against Guelph Gryphons, wasn’t impressed with the state of Wi-Fi there.

“Horrible. It’s like a dead zone,” she told BarrieToday. “And the concession stand always has a problem with debit, because of the signal.”

“People don’t want to surf the net, people want to text,” Bondi added.

Shannon’s husband, Jason, says the need can be very basic.

“We want to use the Wi-Fi to text where we are sitting,” he said, to meet up with friends.

Elora Bain, 16, from Barrie, also has a common use for Wi-Fi at a football game.

“I like to take photos and send them through social media, or contact my parents and tell them where I am," she said. 

Jason Falldien, from Cochrane, Ont., said he was having no luck with a Wi-Fi signal Saturday.

“Nothing,” he said. “All I can do is pick up someone else’s phone. We definitely have no Wi-Fi.”

Falldien said he would also like to send photos from the game.

Featuring ball diamonds, turf fields and three amenity buildings, the complex was not identified in the first phase of Barrie’s public Wi-Fi infrastructure installation, said Ryan Nolan, the city’s director of information technology (IT).

“Staff are investigating adding Wi-Fi at the Barrie Community Sports Complex,” he said. “However, implementing it would require (city) council approval as part of the budget process.”

Barrie councillors are expected to begin discussing the 2025 operating and capital budgets in early December.

The operating costs of all the city’s public Wi-Fi is roughly $10,000 to $20,000 annually, Nolan said, including Barrie’s waterfront and downtown, but does not include infrastructure costs.

“The most expensive component is the fibre connection for internet to the site,” he said. “It’s currently available at the road, but not to our buildings at the Barrie Community Sports Complex.

“To install the infrastructure for a strong Wi-Fi signal with good coverage at the Barrie sports complex, it would cost about $250,000,” added Nolan, noting it’s for fibre-optic cable and the internet connection.

The complex also features Vintage Throne Stadium, home of the Barrie Baycats of the Intercounty Baseball League. The Barrie Minor Baseball Association (BMBA) Baycats also use the complex, as does the Huronia Stallions Football Club.  

The city provides free public Wi-Fi at Barrie City Hall, Allandale Recreation Centre, Peggy Hill Team Community Centre, East Bayfield Community Centre, Five Points Theatre, General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre, and Parkview Community Centre.

The city does spend money on Barrie Community Sports Complex.

Vintage Throne Stadium had its baseball scoreboard replaced this summer, as did Field No. 3, which is used for football, including by the Stallions.

The new scoreboards were approved capital items in the city’s budget and went to public tender.

The Vintage Throne Stadium scoreboard cost $75,000 and the Field 3 football scoreboard $66,000. Both scoreboards were installed June 27.