‘We’re sort of in limbo in our current location,’ says president of CFL team, whose 5-year lease ends in 2027<\/p>\n
BC Lions are moving forward with “a major renovation and expansion” of the football team’s training facility in Surrey, despite some uncertainty about their future at the site.<\/p>\n
A large white structure has been built outside the Whalley facility to house a temporary gym while the team’s workout room is renovated, marking the first phase\u00a0of upgrades to football operations spaces there.<\/p>\n
“The tent will allow us to maintain full training and operational continuity while we begin transforming our existing facility into a state-of-the-art performance hub,” says a memo to players from Lions owner\u00a0Amar Doman and president Duane Vienneau.<\/p>\n
A second phase of renovations will involve a new locker room, enhanced player lounge\u00a0and expanded training areas.<\/p>\n
“This project is a clear signal \u2014 not just within our building but across the CFL \u2014 that we are making meaningful, long-term investments in football operations,” the memo says.<\/p>\n
Vienneau says the aging facility\u00a0is “very tired” and in need of renovations.<\/p>\n
“That’s no secret, and since Amar bought the team we’ve been looking at different potential solutions to fix the problems there,” Vienneau told the Now-Leader. “It’s just aged, and every team in the league has a better facility than us \u2014 there’s not one that we’re better than, so we’re number nine of nine.”<\/p>\n
With the City of Surrey eyeing Tom Binnie Park and adjacent lands as a potential site for a new 10,000-seat stadium<\/a>, the future of the Lions’ training facility there is uncertain.<\/p>\n Vienneau acknowledged\u00a0that the team has explored potential new practice facility sites in Surrey.<\/p>\n “At the end of the day, just nothing is moving quickly,” he said, “So Amar, our owner, said a couple of months ago, ‘Dwayne, enough is enough. I’m gonna renovate this place.’ It’s as simple as that, and if we are in a situation that, you know, Surrey finds us a better location or we find a better location in\u00a0Surrey, whatever it is, we’ll have this in the meantime.<\/p>\n “Amar basically said to me, ‘I don’t want to be here in three years and still haven’t done any improvements and we’re still in the same location.’ It’s really as simple as that.”<\/p>\n In 2022 the Lions signed a five-year lease extension<\/a>\u00a0to keep the clubhouse and field at 10601 City Parkway until 2027.\u00a0The club\u2019s \u201cpartnering agreement\u201d with the City of Surrey called for a negotiated rent of $1.39 million, or $580,698 below the appraised rent, on land\u00a0acquired by the city in 1991.<\/p>\n In 2024 the city considered building\u00a0a 12,000-seat, soccer-focused stadium\u00a0at Tom Binnie Park<\/a>,\u00a0for possible use as a practice facility during the 2026 World Cup, but those plans have gone nowhere to date. The park site is adjacent to the BC Lions\u2019 training facility, and drawings from Vancouver-based company\u00a0SixFive Stadium Experience<\/a>\u00a0showed the stadium positioned on land where the existing football building is located.<\/p>\n Since then,\u00a0Mayor Brenda Locke has championed the construction of a 10,000-seat stadium, or arena, in City Centre over the next few years, at a site to be determined.<\/p>\n