By Sheldon Spackman

Ready To Expand

Lacombe’s MEGlobal Athletic Park expansion to begin later this year

Jun 15, 2020 | 1:41 PM

Construction on the first phase of expansion at MEGlobal Athletic Park in Lacombe is anticipated to begin late this summer or early fall.

Jay Adamson, Lacombe Athletic Park Association (LAPA) Chair, says the expansion project is set out in two phases.

“The first phase to start this summer is expansion of the field house which will include more public washrooms – a big need which we heard from the public, more dressing rooms, and a viewing tower which will also be wheelchair accessible,” says Adamson.

“The second phase is a rubberized 400 metre track along with all other event areas such as jumping puts and throwing areas. Phase 1 will be roughly $1.5 million which will be paid through the $2 million sponsorship donation from MEGlobal in 2019.”

Adamson says Phase 1 is anticipated to be complete by summer of 2021.

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Meanwhile, Phase 2, according to Adamson, will cost roughly $2.5 million with construction on that hoped to begin next summer following completion of Phase 1.

“We still need to raise the majority of that money,” he admits. “We have partnerships with The City of Lacombe, Lacombe County and Wolf Creek School Division. We have a well-developed marketing and fundraising plan to raise the majority or all of the money if we can.”

The COVID-19 pandemic however, has put a kink in those plans for now, says Adamson.

“We are cognizant of the financial position many businesses are in and want to be supportive of them and our community,” he remarks. “We did have the Gord Bamford Concert #RedNeckFest, which was planned for June 20, however we have postponed it to next year on June 19, 2021. We will have a marketing kick-off when it is appropriate to do so, but we are just excited that at this time we can open the park for bookings and scheduled use.”

Despite the slowdown, Adamson says the whole process would not be possible without the initial sponsorship of $2 million from MEGlobal.

“Without them as our major sponsor we would not be on this path,” he declares. “Our other three community partners, The City of Lacombe, Lacombe County and Wolf Creek School Division, have also been excellent supporters of the facility and our expansion plans.”

Prior to moving forward with expansion plans, Adamson notes the importance of meeting with community partners and other members to seek feedback on expansion options.

“We believe through collecting that information that we will further develop an already top-notch facility into one that will be more accessible and offer greater use options,” he suggests. “With our expansion plans we will create a facility that will be able to meet greater demands of use, be more accessible to all people and offer a greater diversity of physical activity options.”

“We believe that MEGlobal Athletic Park will be a great place to host multiple sporting events like football, soccer, rugby, lacrosse and track and field, and will do an excellent job at drawing people to central Alberta and the City of Lacombe,” he continues. “Our motto is to “Play like the Pros” and with the expansion plans, we believe we will be further enabled to give our community even more opportunity to do just that.”

In the meantime, MEGlobal Athletic Park has re-opened for general use in conjunction with the next stage of Alberta’s relaunch from the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can click here for information on sponsorship opportunities for the facility.