Plans for a rugby field house in South Surrey moved one step further this month, with council’s go-ahead for staff to execute a partnership agreement with Bayside Athletic Association regarding construction and operation of the facility.
“This has been a long time in the works,” Surrey’s parks manager Laurie Cavan told council during the June 12 meeting.
According to a corporate report, Bayside has made presentations in the past regarding partnering with the city to develop a rugby facility in South Surrey Athletic Park, and parks staff and Bayside representatives have met “on several occasions” since to discuss the project.
The city is planning to build a two-storey, $2-million structure, with four change rooms, public washrooms and more on the lower level, and an unfinished space on the upper level for Bayside. It would be located on the south side of 20 Avenue, added to the existing baseball training centre.
In addition to paying for a kitchen, concession and other improvements to the upper level, Bayside would be responsible for its operation and maintenance, along with an annual rent payment to the city of $1, the report states.
Of the initial $2 million construction cost, Bayside is to contribute a total of $600,000 – $200,000 in cash and contingency, and the balance in in-kind contributions. The total excludes the costs of second-floor improvements, which are to be completed within three years of the initial construction, the report states. Exactly how much those improvements are expected to cost is not outlined in the report; Bayside officials did not respond to Peace Arch News‘ request for that detail by press time Tuesday morning.
A development permit for the facility was recently submitted; approval of the partnering agreement was a pre-requisite to starting construction.
City parks manager Ted Uhrich told Peace Arch News last August that detailed design work on the project was underway. Last week, he told PAN that construction is hoped to start “later this summer.”
Cavan told council the facility “will remain a city asset.”
