The municipality has delayed rehabilitation of Centennial Field until 2017, pushing the project back a year to allow for the completion of the exchange lands, which will act as a replacement field in the interim.
The exchange lands—the former home of the Jasper Junior/Senior High School on Pyramid Lake Road—are slated to become a multi-purpose greenspace and will include a large open field, as well as trees and picnic tables. That space is expected to open in 2016, allowing for work to begin on Centennial Field in the spring of 2017.
“We don’t want to take Centennial Park offline until the exchange lands are online,” said Bruce Thompson, director of operations, during the June 16 council meeting. “We’ll start with the exchange lands this year, get them up and ready for 2016 and we’ll take Centennial Park offline in 2017.”
Jasper’s main sports field is in dire need of new turf, as well as a new irrigation system, and was in the 2016 municipal budget for repairs. But, in order for the field to undergo a complete overhaul, the community needs another soccer pitch to use during construction, and other than the exchange lands, the municipality has no other options.
Last week the municipality submitted an application to the federal government for a Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Grant to help with the cost of the field replacement. Through the program, the government is investing $150 million in projects that will rehabilitate existing community facilities across the country.
In its application, the municipality requested $200,000. If that’s approved, the municipality will match that sum, bringing the total budget for the project up to $400,000.
With those funds, the municipality will redesign, excavate and reconstruct the field to improve its irrigation and drainage, as well as make the surface safe for users.
The field is presently uneven, with large patches of uncovered earth, a significant number of weeds and countless divots.
Describing the field to council, Thompson said it’s “quite undulating. The sprinkler heads are exposed to players. The drainage doesn’t work very well under rainy conditions and through the thaw/freeze cycle the field does trap water—it does make the situation worse.”
If the grant application is accepted, Thompson said there will be enough funding to allow the municipality to completely redevelop the field from the base up, as well as extend a new irrigation system from the field to the ball diamonds.
“All three ball diamonds have very good turf that exists out there right now, but the sprinklers that are set up right now don’t disperse water as effectively as they could; there’s a need for some new lateral lines, as well as a different variety of sprinkler head that’s more suitable for an active play surface.”
Centennial Field received a facelift eight years ago thanks to a $200,000 grant from the provincial government, but despite grading and new turf, the condition of the field quickly deteriorated.
The challenge is it is the only regulation-size field in town, so it is used constantly, leaving no time for the turf to recuperate after each use.
“It’s in dire need of rehabilitation; it’s in dire need to be repaired, so we’re very excited that we can move forward with this grant application,” said Natasha Malenchak, the municipality’s new director of finance and outgoing manager of the fitness and aquatic centres.
Nicole Veerman
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