The City of Cambridge and Conestoga College broke ground Monday at the future site for the city’s new outdoor soccer complex.
The $12 million facility on Linden Drive, next to Fountain Street and the Grand River, is expected to open next year and will provide Cambridge with some much needed green space for competitive soccer tournaments, say city officials.
Gateman-Milloy Inc., of Kitchener, was awarded the contract to build the outdoor sports facility.
“This will contribute to the overall health and well-being of our community by offering a really safe space for sports tourism opportunities and put Cambridge on the map,” said Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry.
The 30-acre property will house seven soccer fields for competitive and recreational play and is located near the Cambridge campus of Conestoga College.
The college has partnered with the city in building the facility, donating around $1.5 million to have a reserved field for the school's varsity team.
Andrew Bates, associate director of sports and recreation at Conestoga, said this will be the team's home field where they will practice and play games during their season.
“The direct impact this will have on the varsity programs can’t really be measured,” Bates said. “There are so many opportunities for growth and to support our athletes here.”
Bates thinks that when players can look around and see their teams logos and colours integrated into the design of the facility, it will give them the motivation to perform at their best.
Not only will the college be able to use this for competitive play, but the city is looking at making these fields a destination for tournaments.
“We needed the upgraded facility so we had the space for tournaments, the larger tournaments not only provincial but national as well,” McGarry said.
City manager David Calder said the city will be able to generate revenue to cover a portion of the facility's costs by offering naming rights for the new complex.
“The exciting thing about this project is there will be a fundraising aspect to it,” Calder said. “In return you would not only obtain naming rights to the complex as a whole, but fields and scoreboards as well.”
The city will be looking towards the community, whether that be corporations, families or individuals to purchase the naming rights.
The soccer complex joins many facilities in Cambridge the city hopes can build on its reputation as a destination for sports.
McGarry said in recent years the city added four new pickle-ball courts to the Duncan McIntosh Arena, partnered with Archery Canada on building a permanent range for their athletes, and built a disc golf course at Soper Park.
City council and Conestoga College can’t wait to get players onto the field and start playing, McGarry added.
“I’m just really excited for the city to have a wonderful facility to come and learn to play the sport, watch and cheer on their teams and just bring people together in the love of sport,” she said.
