The long talked-about improvements to Chatelech Secondary School's sports fields now have a vision that field users, fundraisers and donors can look at while planning to make the fields a reality.
Norm Blair, Sunshine Coast Youth Soccer Association (SCYSA) president, with architects from Mobius Architecture presented the vision, along with concept drawings, to a small but eager group of stakeholders on Saturday night, Oct. 2.
"We got 31 people, but the people who did show up were enthusiastic, and the right people we needed to be there from government were there, and afterwards, we had a good conversation. I think now we are about ready to go to the next step," Blair said.
Attendees represented various local governments, arts, business and sports groups, which Blair said means attendees can then take information out to their circles of influence and generate enthusiasm virally.
That next step, Blair said, is to divide the entire project into smaller pieces and set goals and plans for each piece.
The vision shows two soccer fields at tiered levels, one with a baseball diamond and outfield overlapping. The lower field is envisioned to have artificial turf and a mobile stage that could be used for outdoor theatre or music. Also included are bleachers, lighting for the lower field, change rooms, washrooms and track and field infrastructure.
The first step is to put in the retaining wall, which Blair said he hopes will be under construction when the 2011 school year ends.
Fundraising for that and the rest of the approximately $4-million project should happen over the next couple years if the project can generate enough interest and commitment on the Coast.
"We want to fundraise on the Sunshine Coast and work with large corporations and foundations off-Coast by presenting them with a vision that is a landmark facility that will be here for a long time into the future," Blair said. "It's now out there in the public domain, and that's really what we wanted to accomplish."
Peter Treuheit, the architect behind the vision, said one of the great strengths the vision has now, which will help in generating the funds to build it, is that the field offers something for just about everyone.
"I think the vision is really to be a multi-use place, not just sports. I think it's really potentially something much greater for the community," he said. "The slogan is really good, I think -'a field for everyone.'"
School District No. 46 (SD46) chair Silas White said the proposed improvements would be an obvious benefit to SD46 students as well as the community and, so far, it has the support of SD46.
"We've been aware of it for a couple years, and we've supported it in principle since then. And we've supported the initial stages of it, which was to create a retaining wall and ball field on the upper field. We're just continuing to look at it step by step and work with our staff as well, because they do need to work on the fields," he said.
To see the plans in more detail, visit SCYSA's website: www.deeprooted.ca/scysa.
