Cambridge Multi-Sports Complex [Proposed]

[Spokes]

Grand vision urged for Cambridge multi-sports complex


November 15, 2014 | Waterloo Region Record | Link

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.