No Ord-inary Road
Ord Road’s facelift might be turning into something out of an Edward Scissorhands flick.
A $13-million overhaul of the city’s transit facility and the construction of a BMX track, worth about $300,000, are sure things.
The track and the transit facility will be neighbours on the 900-block of Ord Road, which might also be home to a new indoor soccer dome.
“The piece of land that we have in inventory right now is on the west end of that lot, closer to Singh Street.” said Byron McCorkell, the city’s director of parks, recreation and cultural services.
“The soccer community came forward with their idea and we suggested that property would be a suitable location.”
Graham Cope is the president of the Kamloops Youth Soccer Association (KYSA) and he is also part of a committee called the Kamloops Soccer Society (KSS), which has been developing a business plan for the construction of the new dome.
“The site that’s being offered by the city, there’s a significant amount of site prep required that’s going to really chew into our budget,” Cope told KTW.
“We’ve got a bunch of rock we’ve got to get rid of.
“If we can find a contractor that needs rock, that’ll help us.”
Cope said the KSS has broken down into quasi-committees that are working on cost-effective ways to prepare the proposed dome site for construction.
“There is a rock outcrop on one corner,” McCorkell said.
“Whether they would need to move that or not depends on the dome design they choose. That’s basically back to the soccer community to figure out.”
The dome itself will cost at least $3-million.
“The city would build the building and own the building,” Cope said.
“The soccer community would lease the structure from the city.
“At the end of the lease, we buy it for a buck and the city recoups all of its costs.”
The KYSA’s president said the KSS, which would run the dome’s day-to-day operations, would pay the city back in about 20 to 30 years using “standard mortgage-type terms.”
Construction on the transit station and the BMX track was slated to begin this spring.
An ideal situation would see the earthwork for the dome and the BMX track completed at the same time, McCorkell said.
“We have a piece of property. If [the KSS] wants to proceed with the project, they have to come back with a proposal.”
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