The $5.8 million improvement project at Cloverdale Athletic Park is well underway.
On Friday afternoon, representatives from the City of Surrey, federal government and Surrey United Soccer toured the park, taking in progress of the joint-funded project.
The 20-hectare Cloverdale Athletic Park, located on 64 Avenue, has had two artificial turf playing fields installed since last year, and a new fieldhouse for the Surrey United Soccer Club will be coming next year.
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The park had two artificial turf fields before the renewal project, installed in 2004 and 2006. According to a , the field installed in 2004 had 鈥渄egraded to a point that replacement [was] necessary.鈥�
That field, known as 鈥淔ield #1,鈥� was replaced with new turf. The process of removing the old turf, recycling it, and installing a new shock pad and new surface material came in at about $650,000, according to Parks Development Services Manager Tim Neufeld.
Field #2, which was previously a natural grass field, was converted into synthetic turf at around $2.5 million. A new practice field was created as a part of that conversion, replacing a field that was practically 鈥渦nusable鈥� at certain times of the year due to weather and poor drainage, said Tom Duncan, president Surrey United Soccer.
The new synthetic turf allows the fields to be used more often, and in more varied weather conditions than natural turf.
鈥淭his park is so well-subscribed, so anything we can do, collectively, to increase the capacity and get the fields to be active longer and to have a longer season is really helpful for the community,鈥� said City Councillor Bruce Hayne.
Work on the new fieldhouse was originally expected to begin this past spring, but the development team is still in the design process.
鈥淲e hope to get construction underway later this fall,鈥� said Neufeld. 鈥淲e鈥檙e anticipating seven to eight months in construction, so [it will open] sometime next summer.鈥�
After the fieldhouse is complete, there will be new projects to consider.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always opportunity for further development,鈥� said Neufeld. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really about maximizing the use of the space. These are really good progressions with the use of the synthetic. Folks like Surrey United can speak to that, in terms of meeting the demand.鈥�
鈥淚n the next five years, we鈥檙e probably looking at doing the softball diamonds,鈥� said Duncan. 鈥淧arking is an issue here too, which the City understands. Eventually we鈥檇 like to see [additional parking]. We鈥檙e discussing that with the City right now.鈥�
Meantime, the fields are open to sports groups and community organizations. For more information, visit .
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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