Cloverdale Athletic Park will receive more than $5.8 million in upgrades, according to an announcement made on Tuesday morning by the City of Surrey and Government of Canada.
The Cloverdale Athletic Park has been undergoing upgrades all season, and the installation of a $2-million artificial turf field and practice area and renovations to the water park are already well underway. A new fieldhouse for the Surrey United Soccer Club is the next step in the process, and part of an overall “revitalization” of the park.
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Today’s announcement, made by Cloverdale-Langley City MP John Aldag and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, revealed that the joint-funded project would also include another new artificial turf field and practice field.
The federal government will put $1,919,463 towards the project through the Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component – National and Regional Projects, and is part of $180 billion in federal funding that will be put towards public transit, social and green infrastructure, transportation routes and rural and northern communities in the next 12 years, according to Aldag.
“This project will ensure that the Cloverdale Athletic Park continues to be an exceptional gathering place for Cloverdale’s recreational and social gatherings,” said Aldag.
The Surrey United Soccer Club approached Aldag shortly after he was elected about possibly supporting the improvements at the park, and the club spearheaded the project on a municipal and provincial level as well, working with former MLA Peter Fassbender and city councillor Mike Starchuk.
The City of Surrey will provide $3,715,926 to the Cloverdale Athletic Park project and the Surrey United Soccer Club will contributed the remaining $200,000.
Happy to partner w/ the Fed Govt & Surrey United SC to deliver $5.8M in upgrades to the Cloverdale Athletic Park https://t.co/3fPZpGNZY4 pic.twitter.com/hSY2lm7uRP
— Office of the Mayor (@SurreyMayor) July 25, 2017
“Don’t you love that we’ve started already?” Hepner asked, referring to the construction underway behind the press conference. “We haven’t even cashed the cheque yet, but we’re ready.”
“We have over 100 soccer fields and 14 artificial turf fields in the city and, as we see on a year-round basis here, the pitches at Cloverdale Athletic Park are extremely well used. So well used that the age of the fields is starting to show,” said Hepner.
The park has two artificial turf fields already, installed in 2004 and 2006. According to a City of Surrey report, the field installed in 2004 has “degraded to a point that replacement is necessary.”
That field, known as “Field #1,” is being replaced with new turf, with an expected completion date of early August, in time for the first football practices of the season.
Field #2, which was previously a grass field, will have new artificial turf installed, as well as an additional practice field. It is expected to be complete this fall.
The City of Surrey said that work on the new fieldhouse, which will be adjacent to Field #2, will begin next spring. The fieldhouse will have changing rooms, a space for seniors and will host cultural and community programs.
“The work being done here will ensure that Cloverdale Athletic Park will remain as one of the premier sports parks in the Lower Mainland,” Hepner said in a press release.
“Surrey United, along with other user groups, will soon enjoy some significant improvements to Cloverdale Athletic Park that will serve their members and the greater community,” said Dave McKague, treasurer of the Surrey United Soccer Club.
