The City of Cold Lake is looking at adding an inflatable dome to their artificial turf field project.
After a resident gave a presentation to council about the benefits of including it over top of an artificial turf field, council decided the idea was worth looking into for more information.
“It’s great to see residents of the community coming forward with ideas,” said Mayor Craig Copeland. “The presenter clearly has a passion for minor sports and bettering our community, and this dome for the turf field is something council wants to consider.”
City staff presented council with some information on how inflatable dome structures operate, including the set-up, take-down, and storage. Administration continues to research additional details council needs to consider before moving forward. Some of these include the cost of labour for set-up and tear-down, the cost of utilities, and what changes would need to be made to the current plan to incorporate such a structure. One change may be the elimination of the full-sized track around the field.
“We’re not necessarily talking about adding a dome to the field now, but we want to see if it’s worth planning the project in a way that one can be added further down the line,” Copeland said. “When you build top-of-the-line infrastructure, you want it to get all the use possible, and this idea could more than double the use the field would get each year, so it’s an option we have to at least consider.”
Council debated whether the existing plan for an artificial turf field should be altered to allow for the future installation of an inflatable dome so that the field can be converted into an indoor structure for the winter months and used year-round. Council requested further research be done so that the idea can be discussed at a future Corporate Priorities meeting.
“An inflatable dome structure would allow a lot of user groups to have access to the artificial turf field year-round,” said Copeland. “Minor soccer, football, rugby, lacrosse, as well as drop-in play times – it could be a huge benefit to the community to have this active space through the winter months.”
City staff have already taken one visit to a similar dome in Edmonton to observe the process required to remove the dome from the field.
“As it stands, we are moving ahead with our plans for the artificial turf field, but we also want to see if there is an option to cover the field for the winter months that won’t cause significant delays in construction,” said Copeland. “There is definitely still a lot to be discussed in the details though.”
Tenders for the artificial turf field are expected to be released this summer with construction starting this year. It is expected to be operational in 2018.
Corporate Priority meetings are open to the public, and take place at City Hall beginning at 6 p.m. Meeting times and agendas are available at www.coldlake.com.