KITCHENER - Two local sports facilities have scored big, after the City of Waterloo committed to giving both Waterloo universities $2.5 million each, to renovate their recreation centres.
Wilfrid Laurier University currently houses a 60-year-old facility that is now set to get a makeover inside and out.
It will have a new field that will be bubbled, so it can be used in the winter.
It will also have expanded new seating, a double gymnasium, and an Indigenous wellness centre.
The cost will be around $62.4 million.
Meanwhile the University of Waterloo plans to add a second ice rink and a new track on a separate level in the existing fieldhouse.
Their cost will likely be north of $25 million dollars.
The City of Waterloo has committed to chip in for both, saying each university will get $2.5 million from the city’s capital reserve fund designated specifically for facility construction.
“We want to give full opportunity for all the community to have access to university facilities too and it is wise use of all of the tax payers money,” said Mark Dykstra of the City of Waterloo.
Both universities hope their new spaces will be used for hosting major sporting events.
The application process will begin in November, followed by a review process by provincial and federal governments.
