The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is throwing it’s support behind a movement to raise funds dedicated for an indoor sports facility in Cranbrook.
During an RDEK meeting earlier this month, the board of directors approved the authorization of a letter guaranteeing some funding to allow organizers of the project to pursue grant funding from organizations such as the Columbia Basin Trust.
Rob Gay, the chair of the RDEK board of directors, said the regional government committed to 10 per cent of the project’s funding that translates into $130,000 to help leverage over $100,000 that the group, headed up by Mike Robinson, has already received in commitments.
“They’re trying to prepare for an application to the Columbia Basin Trust’s Recreation Program,” said Gay, “where they need to show some matching funding, so it was very important that they we did this in January because I think the application process closes in January, so they;ll get a letter from us guaranteeing that funding if they can find enough to move their project forward.”
The whole project is budgeted at $1.7 million, however, construction can begin once the funds raised or committed reaches $1.2 million.
The indoor sports facility is planned for multiple sports and purposes, including indoor soccer, baseball, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee and as a large exhibition space for trade shows.
It’s currently projected for 2,600-square metres indoor heated floor space on artificial turf.
Gay says the multi-purpose aspect of the project, which could be used by many athletic groups, helped generate RDEK support.
“We see them and they were showing examples of the ones in Kelowna, Nelson and Lethbridge,” said Gay, “so many of the communities that the local youth play against have these facilities and they’re playing soccer eight or nine months a year, and we’re limited to three or four, so I think for many of the sports, there’s lots of opportunities for usage of the building.”
Fundraising so far:
Platinum ($10,000 or greater)
• Rob, Jess, Brooke, Reese, and Josie Niedermayer
• Lotic Environmental Ltd
• Chong and Shilhan family
• Kootenay East Youth Soccer Association (KEYSA)
• McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd
• Regional District of East Kootenay
• Salvador Ready Mix Concrete LP
• Fabrite Services/FR Rentals
Gold ($5,000 or greater)
• North Star GM
• Re/Max Blue Sky Realty
Silver ($2,500 or greater)
• MacDonald Hydrology Limited
• Spring Honda
• Ken Stroud
• Capital Tire
• Dr Jason and Christia Martens
Bronze ($1,000 or greater)
• Ladies Auxiliary of Branch 24
• O’Kane Consultants
• Bridge Interiors
• The Cain Family
Tin ($1-1,000)
• Debra Parker & Kambi Heywood - DLC Canadian Mortgage Experts