In an about-face, the borough of Saint-Léonard finally decided to finance the installation of the winter dome on the soccer fields of Hébert stadium, in addition to reaching an agreement with the City for the construction of a permanent structure. by 2025.
Last July, the borough council announced that it could no longer pay for the assembly and dismantling of the dome, because the costs had increased from $290,000 last year to $464,000 this year, in addition heating costs of $150,000.
Young players, their parents and coaches demonstrated loudly in front of Montreal city hall during the last city council meeting last week, fearing that their winter soccer season would fall through.
On Thursday, the borough announced that it was reversing its decision following an agreement with the City, which promised to “increase the budget allocated to the construction of the permanent structure around 2025,” indicates a press release.
“We will assume the costs of nearly $500,000 per year for the next two years, but it is an investment because then the costs will decrease by 80%,” underlines Dominic Perri, Saint-Léonard municipal councilor. . The district will, however, have to make certain budgetary choices over the next two years to finance this expense, he adds.
At the last municipal council meeting, Mr. Perri revealed that the soccer players using the Hébert stadium mainly came from other boroughs in the east of the island of Montreal.
The construction costs of the permanent structure are still unknown, but could reach 10 to 12 million, according to Mr. Perri. The borough’s press release indicates that the project could be financed in part by the Financial Assistance Program for Recreational and Sports Infrastructure conducted jointly by the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec.
Elected officials are also delighted with the fact that the future permanent roof will make it possible to eliminate gas heating, which produces nearly 500 tonnes of GHGs annually, to replace it with geothermal energy, which will also provide air conditioning in summer.