{"id":625159,"date":"2026-04-24T08:23:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625159\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T08:23:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:23:30","slug":"calgary-releases-first-priority-projects-under-gameplan-recreation-strategy-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625159\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary releases first priority projects under GamePLAN recreation strategy – Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Calgary<\/a> has released its highest priority recreation projects, which includes building new facilities as well as upgrades and renovations on existing recreation centres across the city.<\/p>\n

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The 17 projects are among the first wave of GamePLAN<\/a>, the city\u2019s 25-year strategy to address a growing strain on the public recreation system caused by aging facilities, rising costs and a rapidly-growing population.<\/p>\n

GamePLAN was approved by the previous city council, which endorsed the most ambitious funding option of between $200 million and $250 million annually.<\/p>\n

According to the strategy, that option will increase the availability of swimming lessons by 40 per cent per capita, bookable hours at ice sheets by 25 per cent, more than double the bookable hours at indoor fields and ensure that 86 per cent of Calgarians live within five km of an aquatic facility.<\/p>\n

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The first wave of projects includes:<\/p>\n

Forest Lawn Aquatic & Fitness Centre RedevelopmentNortheast Athletic ComplexNew Brighton Athletic Park UpgradeCalgary West Soccer Centre Dome RelocationRocky Ridge FieldhouseSouthland Leisure Centre Renovation and ExpansionWoodbine Athletic Park UpgradeKingsland Athletic ParkFoothills Aquatic & Fitness Centre RedevelopmentShouldice Arena RedevelopmentShouldice Athletic Park UpgradeFoothills Multisport FieldhouseFoothills Athletic Park UpgradeBelmont Athletic ParkBelmont Aquatics & Fitness CentreGreat Plains Arena ExpansionWestside Recreation Centre Renovation and Expansion<\/p>\n

The focus of the first wave of projects, according to the city, is system stabilization by renewing aging facilities and expanding capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked at the facilities that were the oldest and needed a renovation or an upgrade because of their condition,\u201d said Florent Le Berre with the City of Calgary Recreation & Social Programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut also where are the major service gaps that we had especially in the growth areas; we have what we call \u2018recreation deserts\u2019 where we don\u2019t have facilities at all serving those new communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The list does include projects that are already underway, including the Beltmont Athletic Park and expansion of the Southland Leisure Centre, as well as projects that are either funded or partially funded and on city-owned land.<\/p>\n

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The Northeast Athletic Complex<\/a> is currently undergoing design, with construction expected to begin next year after city council approved $65 million from reserves in its most recent budget for the project.<\/p>\n

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The facility is expected to include a 162,500-square-foot indoor fieldhouse, indoor and outdoor turf fields as well as a competition-capable cricket field.<\/p>\n

Its inclusion on the first list of priority projects came as \u201cencouraging news\u201d to Hamza Tariq, a former Canadian national cricketer and founder of the Future Cricket Stars Academy in Calgary.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall as a community hub, it\u2019s going to be such a positive space for our community to thrive and grow and cricket to flourish,\u201d Tariq told Global News.<\/p>\n

Local cricket players face several facility-related challenges in Calgary, Tariq said, including a lack of spaces, safety hazards, and improperly sized fields, which has resulted in injuries to players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re playing a sport you don\u2019t want to be thinking of such things because you\u2019re going guns blazing, you\u2019re running at full speed, you\u2019re trying to do your best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The prioritized projects also include several redevelopment, renovations and upgrades at existing facilities across the city.<\/p>\n

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According to Candice Goudie, the newly appointed president of Sport Calgary, the majority of public recreation facilities in Calgary are upwards of 40 years old and require some attention.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSome of us have been using these facilities our entire life, and some of us are new to them, and the bones are good in a lot of the infrastructure here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere the city can reinvent, reimagine, renovate, and expand, that\u2019s a great thing to do because they\u2019re built in areas that are densely populated and very familiar to Calgarians.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a report on the prioritization of GamePLAN\u2019s projects, the total cost of completing all the projects in the first wave is expected to be $1.7 billion, including $691 million required in the upcoming four-year budget.<\/p>\n

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness said city council will really need to focus on where to allocate tax dollars in the budget while also meeting the needs of Calgarians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t fund everything, and we have to say this is what Calgarians have been asking the most from us, and start funding those appropriately, and say no to others,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The priority projects include a potential relocation of the Calgary West Soccer Dome, which would make way for a potential construction of a new water treatment plant.<\/p>\n

The current facility is located near the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant, where the new plant could potentially be built.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Calgary Minor Soccer Association executive director Carlo Bruneau said the association has been working closely with the city for the past year on a \u201clong-term path forward\u201d for the soccer facility.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re optimistic that the collaborative process underway can help secure the facility\u2019s long-term future,\u201d Bruneau said in a statement. \u201cLosing an existing year-round facility would run counter to the broader goal of improving service levels and expanding access to recreation opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Bruneau, the soccer association hopes to have greater clarity on the facility\u2019s future by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Le Berre said no decisions have been made and including the project on the priority list is precautionary.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur priority will be service continuity, and so we\u2019re asking for this budget just in case we need to move fast,\u201d he told Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we get direction, we will need to work right away to moving that soccer dome to another location.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Calgary has released its highest priority recreation projects, which includes building new facilities as well…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,234422,8669,48,24156,234421],"class_list":["post-625159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-recreation-facilities","tag-calgary-sports","tag-canada","tag-city-of-calgary","tag-gameplan-calgary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}