LOOKING AHEAD 2023: Stouffville approves giant multi-use sports domes at Ballantrae Park

Multi-use complex will include a full-size FIFA pitch, baseball training space and 6 indoor basketball/volleyball courts

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 6, 2023
Simon Martin

Ballantrae is about to become home to one of the largest multi-use sports domes in the province. In December, Stouffville council approved -- in a narrow 4-3 vote -- the construction by 2445277 Ontario Limited of two domes and a clubhouse on the baseball diamond and soccer fields currently at Ballantrae Park on Aurora Road.

The first dome is a 125,000-square-foot air-supported dome structure, containing a full-size FIFA regulation soccer pitch that can be divided into five smaller parcels to allow for multiple groups use within the same time frame.

The second is a 50,000-square-foot indoor court facility designed for court sports of all types. The auxiliary 7,600-square-foot clubhouse will connect both domes and house a reception area, boardroom, offices, storage space and washrooms. The 25,000- square-foot baseball/training space will include six pitching mounds, 10 batting cages, a four-lane sprint track, and a 3,600 square foot fitness centre.

The long-term agreement requires the town to commit to providing land to the dome builder for a nominal fee to allow for the design, build and operation of a multi-sport dome for the next 25 years.

The move was not without controversy; some residents and several councillors didn’t think Ballantrae was the proper location for the facility.

“You sold soccer city, tried to sell the Bethesda Sports Field and now you give away Ballantrae Park to a private company,” resident Mark Carroll said. “The location is a bad plan. It needs to go somewhere closer to Stouffville.” Carroll said the move was sprung on residents quickly with little to no public discussion. An arborist by trade, Carroll remembers taking students from Ballantrae Public School to plant trees in the park over the years.

While Ward 6 Coun. Sue Sherban said people in Stouffville want a facility like this, to rush approving this location is unwise. “I don’t believe council has done a great job in really searching out sites,” she said. Sherban said the location in Ballantrae is not convenient for parents in town.

That sentiment was echoed by Ward 3 Coun. Keith Acton. “I think we need to pause and take a breath, make sure we have done our due diligence in finding a location in closer proximity to the centre of Stouffville.”

While some quibbled about the location, many voiced their support for the facility.

Stouffville Soccer Club president Corrado Panacci said having one of the nicest facilities in the GTA would do wonders for the soccer club. “We fully support where it is going,” he said.

The move comes after staff investigated solutions to fill the service level gap after the town sold SoccerCity in 2021. In the end, town staff decided that air-supported structures were the optimal choice because of the low costs in both construction and maintenance, when compared to a fixed building.

Mayor Iain Lovatt, who supported the dome, said it will have minimal impact on the tax base. “The most appealing thing about this is that it’s not just a soccer dome,” he said citing basketball and baseball uses.

Ward 5 Coun. Richard Bartley also voted in favour of the facility. He was part of the council that approved building SoccerCity and called it a huge mistake as the facility lost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $350,000 a year before the town sold it. To get a facility without spending tax dollars was a huge plus for him. “I’m not spending any more money on a facility like this.

All operational expenses related to the structure including maintenance, utilities, staffing, and its surroundings are the sole responsibility of the owner and not the town. Town staff said they were unable to find a suitable location closer to Stouffville for the facility

The plan is to have the new sports domes ready for use next winter for sports activities.