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Cambridge Multi-Sports Complex [Proposed]
#1
Cambridge Multi-Sports Complex
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#2
Grand vision urged for Cambridge multi-sports complex


November 15, 2014 | Waterloo Region Record | Link

Quote:CAMBRIDGE — Blake Morrison's vision for Cambridge's multi-sports complex is not anchored on an army of Olympics-bound speedskaters racing in fat circles inside a refrigerated mansion.

That's such a small part of his dreamy designs to build the only indoor long-track facility east of Alberta on an abandoned industrial plot beside Jacob Hespeler high school.

"Maybe just three per cent," said the Cambridge Speed Skating coach.

The other 97 per cent? Not speedskating.

This is where Cambridge — where five-term mayor Doug Craig has made a discussed-for-decades sports complex a cornerstone of his farewell-term agenda — must open its nearly 140,000 minds to an expanding oval of peculiar possibilities beyond hockey rinks and soccer pitches and swimming pools.

"If people want to think outside the box, then the sky's the limit," said Morrison, a captain at the Hespeler fire station.

So, look up into the ether of limitless options floating high above 11 dead-end acres on Groh Avenue, where the smashed glass and rod iron-dotted structure of the former Rauscher Plating still stands on a site that will likely need a potentially expensive cleaning up.

Pretend the empty old metal shop is gone, replaced by a huge parking lot right across the street from the high school track and football field.

And further along this T-shaped lot, closer to the high school itself, rises Morrison's 90-foot high dream for the Hespeler hilltop doorstep of the 401.

Gaze into the rafters of this $70-million-for-just-the-structure vision. See the fire-eating trapeze artists of Cirque du Soleil rappelling from dizzying 75-foot heights. Observe in-line skaters rolling around the concrete long track in the six months when the ice is out.

Count the hundred snooker tables all lined up in the infield for a pool tournament.

Of maybe fill that infield with six tennis or volleyball or basketball courts. Keep your eye on the birdies as the shuttlecock flies over a dozen badminton courts while you stroll around the massive indoor walking track.

There could be car shows here. And monster trucks. And bicycle motocross races. And concerts that would never come to Cambridge before. And weddings on a wild scale.

More in the article and at http://www.cambridgeoval.ca/.

It's quite a vision, but I'm not crazy about the location. This is something that would have a higher profile on Hespeler Road or on Holiday Inn Drive, not tucked behind Jacob. Still, it could be of use for JHSS athletics tournaments. The Bible collage would certainly find it useful where it is, too.
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#3
Took the words out of my mouth! Wink
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#4
haha. Sorry, just trying to stay on top of thread formatting.

Just so anyone knows, there's a good resource for starting threads here: http://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/s...php?tid=82
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#5
Looks like the Hespeler site is out; the new proposal is part of the Conestoga College Blair Campus.

Quote:Cambridge looks to build sportsplex on Conestoga College land

CAMBRIDGE — In a cost saving move, the City of Cambridge hopes to build its long-awaited sports multiplex facility on Conestoga College's property off Fountain Street, south of Highway 401.

In a proposal to be considered by Cambridge city council on April 16, city staff says they sought out Conestoga College because building the 150,000-square-foot or larger facility in partnership with the college "would achieve efficiencies that would otherwise not exist in an independent venture."

"When this opportunity presented itself, we saw it first and foremost as a land acquisition opportunity," said Kent McVittie, city commissioner of community services. "But from there, as we discussed it, there are just so many synergies and efficiencies that make themselves attractive.

Under the proposed terms, the city would enter into a long-term land lease with Conestoga College, allowing the city to secure the eight to 12 hectares needed for the facility for $3.5 million less than the $6 million officials had budgeted.
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#6
The decision to proceed with the Conestoga site has been deferred; a lot of concerns have been raised by groups that would use the site, including travel times and lack of local amenities (on the Cambridge side of the 401, at least). One councillor recommended looking for a site closer to the future LRT route while another advocated for the Townline/401 area. Would like to the Cambridge Times article, but it doesn't seem to be online; ever since Metroland rebuilt the websites for their local papers, maybe one or two articles from the latest edition actually show up.
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#7
I applaud them for bringing up future LRT stations. I keep saying this and I hope councils think about it, but the best place to focus community developments will be around LRT stations, or at least along iXpress routes not far from them. Take RIM Park: we are almost at a frequency of bus where I could get there to play hockey by transit, without a car. Compare that to the Waterloo Region Museum vs THEMUSEUM; the one with no real transit service has never seen me visit, while the other has seen me patronize it at least 2-6 times a year, explicitly because of how easy it is to decide that I'd like to spend a couple hours perusing a new exhibit or special evening.
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#8
(04-23-2015, 07:44 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I applaud them for bringing up future LRT stations.

THIS.

It's nice to see a Cambridge councillor be optimistic of the future as opposed to the normal rhetoric of "LRT is never coming to Cambridge".  Baby steps I guess. Wink
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#9
Cambridge council approves $53-million sports complex at Conestoga College
April 25, 2015 |  CTV Kitchener | LINK



Despite pleas from some quarters to take more time and consider other sites, Cambridge councillors voted 6-3 in favour of moving ahead with plans to build a sports complex at Conestoga College.
Prior to Tuesday night’s vote, councillors had heard concerns that the $53-million sportsplex should be built at a more central location.
Citing those same concerns, Coun. Nick Ermeta was one of the votes against the approval.
“When you’re making a decision like this, you need to have options,” he told CTV News.
“I didn’t think we had enough to choose from.”


Ermeta suggested the city take a look at some of its brownfield sites, which would take more time and money to get ready for a sportsplex but could see the facility built closer to many Cambridge residents.

Coun. Frank Monteiro said the expense and delays made brownfield sights unfeasible.


“I would hate to lose this opportunity. Now is the time. Let’s move forward and have something we can be proud of,” he said.


Attention will now turn to exactly what to put in the facility. Early suggestions from the city were that it would be 150,000 square feet and feature ice rinks, a pool and a walking track.

Construction isn’t expected to begin until at least 2018.
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#10
I apologize for the format of that last post, tried for the first time in a long time to post from my mobile, it is pretty difficult.
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#11
It may not be on the light rail line, but a bus from Conestoga to Sportsworld or Preston would connect to ION Phase II so easily. Maybe it will give Preston a bit of a jumpstart.
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#12
(04-30-2015, 06:53 PM)DHLawrence Wrote: It may not be on the light rail line, but a bus from Conestoga to Sportsworld or Preston would connect to ION Phase II so easily. Maybe it will give Preston a bit of a jumpstart.

Has RIM Park given anything a jumpstart, though? If this is located in the middle of nowhere, I doubt it will contribute much to any of the somewheres via which you might get to it.

This, like the original placement of Conestoga College itself, is all about minimizing cost.
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#13
Nice of Cambridge to locate it where it can be easily accessed by folks from Kitchener, however. Wink
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#14
(04-30-2015, 11:23 PM)mpd618 Wrote:
(04-30-2015, 06:53 PM)DHLawrence Wrote: It may not be on the light rail line, but a bus from Conestoga to Sportsworld or Preston would connect to ION Phase II so easily. Maybe it will give Preston a bit of a jumpstart.

Has RIM Park given anything a jumpstart, though? If this is located in the middle of nowhere, I doubt it will contribute much to any of the somewheres via which you might get to it.

This, like the original placement of Conestoga College itself, is all about minimizing cost.

I'm not sure about a jump start, but 15 years after it's initial opening, the City has grown around it.  The Park was an opportunity to create a large green space first without negotiating with developers for scraps from their parcels.
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#15
Sports Complex design concepts unveiled

As far as the coach from the Cambridge Speed Skating Club is concerned, this development is one big "Meh", symptomatic of Cambridge politics as a whole. Hard to disagree.
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