The cries for a multi-use stadium to make Waterloo region a sport hosting destination are growing louder.
Former Wilfrid Laurier University Athletic Director Peter Baxter, along with other members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Sport Council’s Facilities Committee, are behind a recently created petition calling for such a complex to be built.
The group has been vocal about the lack of adequate facilities in the region over the past several years.
"Nobody wants to take responsibility on it," Baxter said.
"I've been on the Waterloo region tourism board and trying to attract events here, we just can't do it anymore."
Baxter said the former Centennial Stadium that was located next to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium used to be an appropriate venue for hosting events.
The 3,200-seat facility that was built in 1967 was home to pre-Olympic meets in 1996 and the Ontario Federation of School Athletics Association track and field championships in 1984, 1994 and 1995 before it eventually fell into disrepair and was demolished in 2013.
As for his vision, Baxter wants to see a 6,500 to 8,000 seat stadium that supports track and field, soccer, tackle and flag football, rugby, field hockey and lacrosse, as well as community and cultural gatherings.
Adjacent to the outdoor facility, he'd like an indoor venue that houses a performance centre with a 200 metre running track.
All of this could be done on the land where Centennial Stadium once sat, he said, given the space available and central location.
While the overall cost would have to be analyzed and evaluated, Baxter believes it could serve as a significant source of revenue while elevating a growing community.
"It needs to be a collaborative approach," he said of the municipalities working together to make it happen.
"It has to be more than one section of Waterloo region that owns it, so to speak. This could be a destination site."
James Porto, who's a coach with the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club in Waterloo and a teacher at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, echoes the committee's disappointment in local facilities and is happy to see the idea for a new one gaining traction.
"It's so nice to see people reacting to this and word starting to spread," Porto said.
"Hopefully, it'll send a big message and we can get this accomplished."
As a coach, Porto knows firsthand the rough conditions his athletes have to overcome, from torn up tracks and long jump pits to overgrown grass.
He feels any investment is worthwhile.
"It could only be a good thing to have a place where people gather with the common purpose of improving their physical and mental health while competing and mastering the sport they love," he said.
"Build it and they will come certainly applies here."
The plan is to send the petition, which has over 500 signatures since Jan. 4, to regional and City of Kitchener councils, Athletics Canada and Ontario Minister of Sport Neil Lumsden.
From there, Baxter wants to continue to move the conversation forward.
"I'd like to be invited to talk to the councils and talk about the importance of having a facility of this nature that would be a legacy for the next seven generations," he said.
To view the petition visit change.org.
