Abbotsford – At the July 14 meeting of Abbotsford Council, Two pieces of infrastructure were approved. A 50 metre pool on the MSA site, and two sheets of ice at Exhibition Park.
From the City Council Agenda: (link to full agenda is here)
50m Pool at MSA (next to Arena):
The Strategy recommended for approval still includes a new, specialized 50m Training
Pool facility at the MSA site to accommodate athlete development through training, local
and regional sport hosting, and health and wellness programming for the community.
To maximize these services, a pool tank with ten (10) lanes versus the traditional eight
(8) lanes would provide additional flexibility to the 50m Pool. This flexibility would better
accommodate the approach of shared usage achievable through the moveable bulkhead
system.
This additional space would enable swim meets and other competitions to have a 25m,
or short course, layout with 8 competition lanes and 2 warm-up lanes, effectively
allowing the City to activate the other 25m section of the pool tank. Further, this layout
would allow the competition to turn the lanes 90 degrees from the standard 50m lane
layout, supporting the use of permanent deck space for the two ends of the lanes versus
needing to use a ~3m wide bulkhead. This layout would support both officials and
volunteers in administering the event.
Total Estimated Budget = $325,000
Two new Ice Sheets at Exhibition Park:
Exhibition Park was identified as the preferred location for this proposed facility due to the ease
of access within Abbotsford and the availability of space, including current parking capacity.
The provision of two additional City owned and operated ice sheets would immediately
accommodate ice and dry floor needs expressed by the local not-for-profit minor sports
organizations. It is projected that this type of facility (Attachment A) would provide approximately
4,200 hours of prime-time ice each season, thus achieving Action Plan Direction 2 – Increase
availability of ice for the community.
Though both the arena at the Matsqui Recreation Centre (MRC) and the MSA arena are aging,
both continue to serve the community well, delivering valuable ice and dry floor services. Both
the MRC and MSA arenas will require substantive renovations in the next 10-20 years. The
development of a new two-sheet arena at the Park will allow the City additional capacity,
enabling thoughtful planning of both the MRC and MSA sites over the coming years to ensure that the community’s arena needs continue to be met.
As a result of the work outlined above, this report recommends that staff retain expertise to
undertake Project Framing work to ensure that the full scope of the two-sheet arena venue is
better defined with further details. These details will support the development of a cost estimate,
enabling the City to consider the timelines and avenues by which to advance this project.
