Four Cochrane sports associations have banded together for a project that will see two outdoor and one indoor turf field built in the community in the next eight years.
Cochrane Artificial Turf Committee (CATC), made up of Cochrane Lions Football, Rangers Soccer, Minor Soccer and the Coyotes Rugby team made a presentation to Rocky View County councillors, Feb. 21.
ìWe want to play in our community,î said CATC spokesman Dean Lang. ìWe want to showcase our athletes and we want to make Cochrane a sports destination.î
According to Lang, new sports fields are badly needed in Cochrane as there have been none built in turf in 10 years, despite an increase in teams competing for playing space.
CATC, which represents a combined total of more than 2,000 youth and 350 adults, will embark on the project in three phases.
Phase one, an outdoor turf field complete with stands to seat 500 spectators, is estimated to cost about $2 million and will be funded through provincial and federal grants, the clubs, the Town of Cochrane, Rocky View County and private and corporate residents.
ìWe are here for the long haul,î said Lang. ìWe are in it for at least eight years.î
Lang said the field, which the CATC expects will be completed by the summer of 2013, will replace six grass fields as it has a potential to be used year round. The turf would also require less maintenance and would last for about 10 years.
The new facility would operate on a cost-recovery framework.
According to Lang, the four teams draw kids from a number of communities, including rural Rocky View, Bragg Creek, Canmore, Sundre, Water Valley and Morley.
Lang said the CATC would make another presentation and formal funding request to County council this spring.
