Holyrood moves the ball forward on soccer field tender

By Mark Squibb | April 8, 2021

Soccer players in Holyrood will be glad to hear the Town is moving forward with plans to upgrade their soccer field.

Council voted unanimously to request Innovative Engineering and Project Management to immediately move forward with a public tender call for soccer field upgrades.

“This project will address the drainage issues which have haunted the area and created problems with proper usage of the soccer field, inhibiting the soccer program offered through the Town,” said councillor Jim Joy.

“The project will provide well designed recreational infrastructure including a playing field, a storage and washroom facility as well improved access to the field and improved parking. On completion, the project will provide residents with safe, reliable recreational opportunities for all ages.”

Particulars of the cost will not be known until a successful bidder has been selected.

“We had been working through the various stages of approval for a while now, so I’m extremely pleased to see this project now approved for tendering, “concluded Joy.

Other members of council, including Recreation and Community Events chair councillor Kim Ghaney, shared their approval of the process moving forward.

“On behalf of Recreation and Community Events we are delighted to hear that this tender is going out,” said Ghaney. “It’s been long awaited by many people and it is an important piece of infrastructure, and it’s going to mean an awful lot to the recreation and community event program in allowing a better quality of soccer programming and other events that can be hosted in that area given it’s large size. So, we are really pleased to see that this is moving forward, and hopefully the work will be completed in a timely way.”

Mayor Kevin Costello noted that, cost dependent, council hoped to install a gravel walking track around the field.

“But again, that all depends on where the tender prices come in,” said Costello. “Hopefully, COVID pricing hasn’t driven it completely out of whack, and we can get most of our ‘wants’ in there.”

Back in 2019, the Town entered into a cost-sharing agreement with provincial government, in which the town would only pay $217,532 of the $719,715.00 bill for the soccer field upgrades.