A new BC NDP government will sink $3 million into Port Coquitlam to build a year-round sports facility.
That was Premier David Eby’s promise on Tuesday, Oct. 15, as the party leader swung by the city during the 2024 provincial election campaign.
With four days to go until voting day, Oct. 19, Eby joined deputy premier and Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth, Mayor Brad West and other elected officials for the funding pledge.
The municipality says it has already budgeted up to $12 million to construct the centre at the existing Shaughnessy Bike Park, north of Lougheed Highway and west of Shaughnessy Street; the bike skills park will be relocated.
Shovels for the covered facility are expected to be in the ground in 2026 and, once up, it will be used for dry floor sports such as lacrosse, ball hockey, basketball, volleyball, pickleball, tennis and badminton.
And besides spectator seating, it will also include change rooms, washrooms and storage.
“A great local sports facility means low-cost fun for families right in their own neighbourhood,” Eby stated in a news release. “We’re building the infrastructure with municipalities that creates strong and healthy people, and communities.”
In 2022, council paused a $40,000 upgrade to the Shaughnessy Bike Park, for the 2024–25 capital plan, to reconsider the proposal for better land use.
The concept of a covered hub is similar to Coquitlam’s Poirier Forum, a 25,000 sq. ft. building next to Dogwood Pavilion that’s used for indoor sports and events.
Sports growth
Tuesday’s announcement comes a month after Ryan Clark, the executive director for PoCo Sports Alliance, declared Port Coquitlam will become the “best sporting community in B.C.”
In August, Clark was with councillors at Gates Park, as well as representatives from BC Soccer and Canada Soccer, to start construction of a new soccer facility that includes a FIFA-regulation field turf pitch, a field house and covered grandstand.
Funding for more than half of the $11.4-million budget is coming from the provincial government while BC Soccer and the city are each punting in $2.5 million.
Once complete, the facility, next to Riverside Secondary School, will be the headquarters for BC Soccer. The first matches are expected by next fall.
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