Tomorrow, April 11, marks the start of construction on the turf field that will replace the grass field at the Ed Eggerer Athletic Park, giving Airdrie its first, and so far only, artificial turf field.
“This is a win for recreation in Airdrie,” said Mayor Peter Brown last year when City council approved the site for construction. “Choosing Ed Eggerer Athletic Park as the location and converting the existing field to artificial turf, as opposed to starting from scratch elsewhere, means Airdrie will have a sanctioned field as early as [Fall of 2024].”
According to the project timeline on the City’s website, the new artificial turf field should be open by the fall, just in time for the start of the high school football season.
The project to first approve and then install a turf field at Ed Eggerer, has been a lengthy process. In 2021, the City partnered with the Artificial Turf Field Society to commission a report examining the feasibility of an artificial turf sports field in the community.
The report decided that Ed Eggerer, with its bleachers and proximity to Genesis Place washroom facilities, was the preferable location for any turf field installation. The report also examined the feasibility of a domed field as an alternative to an outdoor turf field. It was decided that the considerable operating costs of a dome field would be too high, and that the location at Ed Eggerer could not support a four-season dome.
Chris Glass, the head coach of the George McDougall Mustangs football team and president of the Airdrie Field and Turf Project, helped to spearhead the lobbying effort for a turf field back in 2019.
In an interview with the Airdrie City View last July when the turf field was announced by the City, Glass said the decision would pay off in the end, for both the city's sporting community and the municipality.
“I would really like to commend City council for understanding the urgency of getting this field built,” Glass said at the time. “There are so many events that could be held in our city that could drive economic development and tourism dollars through using that field.”
On the selection of a turf field to replace the grass at Ed Eggerer, Brad Anderson, the manager of Genesis Place, said last July “choosing to install an artificial turf field at Ed Eggerer Athletic Park makes sense…it allows the community to have a playable area much sooner compared to other potential sites like the planned SW recreation centre.”
Anderson also mentioned that the Athletic Park at Ed Eggerer already had the necessary infrastructure in place, such as bleachers and change rooms, and if another location was selected, the implementation of that infrastructure would add to the construction budget.
Starting April 11, Ed Eggerer Field will be an active construction site. The field itself, plus the surrounding track, will be unavailable for usage until the turf field has been installed and construction is complete.
