Breaking ground on Kitchener’s latest recreation facility

Officials pick up shovelfuls of dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony for Kitchener’s newest multi-purpose indoor recreation facility at RBJ Schlegel Park. (Dave Pettitt/CTV News)

Construction has officially begun on Kitchener’s newest multi-purpose indoor recreation facility at RBJ Schlegel Park.

The City of Kitchener hosted a groundbreaking event on Friday to mark the special moment.

The new facility will include a FIFA-sized indoor turf fieldhouse for soccer, cricket, and lacrosse, an aquatics centre with a leisure pool and separate lane pool, a walking track, an indoor cricket batting cage, and a multi-purpose space for community events and rentals.

City council approved construction of the new facility in April. When it’s completed, it will be Kitchener’s first net-zero carbon building and will be home to the city’s largest array of solar panels.

It is slated to open in late 2026.

Taxpayers are not expected to pay for any of the construction costs, as the federal government has chipped in $9.7 million and the provincial government has invested more than $8 million through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. The rest of the $144 million dollar cost will be funded through development charge revenues collected by the city.

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