Excavation work is underway on Canadore College’s new domed multi-use sportsplex project.
Crews paused digging up the site outside the college’s Commerce Court campus on Friday morning to allow Vic Fedeli, Nipissing MPP, to provide a $2 million funding boost to the project.
“This is an athletic venue. It is a venue for community events, golf, badminton, cricket,” he says. “It’s a sports venue but it’s a community hub venue.”
Fedeli says the total project cost is $9 million and will also support year-round soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, volleyball, dry land training and sport conditioning.
The ceremonial ground-breaking was held 15 months ago.
George Burton, college president and CEO, says several factors led to the delay in construction.
“No surprise to anybody, lots of factors,” he says. “Supply chain. Increased costs from industry is going up. Ensuring we have all the environmental work done. It all takes time. Things are moving a lot slower than they used to. We’re just coming out of the pandemic and things are kind of getting back up to speed. We can go shovels in the ground and we don’t have to pause again.”
Burton says the community will be able to use the facility and it will have the potential to host large community events, tradeshows, and conferences.
Construction is expected to be completed in late spring or early fall of 2024.
