St. Clair College breaks ground on field of dreams

Students, faculty and community members gathered for the groundbreaking of St. Clair College’s new Sports Park on Feb. 1, 2019.

Plans for the $21.5 million Sports Park were unveiled during a presentation at the college’s South Campus main building. Speakers at the presentation included Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, Essex County Warden Gary McNamara, Barry and Stephanie Zekelman.

The Sports Park will be located in the space across from the main campus building, replacing the current baseball diamond and soccer fields with a state-of-the-art facility which will include volleyball and tennis courts, amongst other features.

After the presentation, attendees went out in the cold, crisp air for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Gold shovels were passed around as key members and donors of the project lined up and together broke ground on the new project.

Members of the college’s Student Representative Council are overseeing the project and have already budgeted roughly $13 million for the park scheduled to open in 2020. Secured investors include Barry and Stephanie Zekelman, Dominos Canada, and the WFCU. The majority of the building contract was given to FORTIS Group.

Holly Nicholson, 23, is the president of the SRC and said the new Sports Park is an investment in the future.

“To see it come to light is extremely exciting and for the college it is great,” Nicholson said. “It’s not only good for the current students but it is going to help us get more students in the future.”

Once the park is finished construction, the day to day responsibilities will shift from the SRC to the Student Athletic Association. The SAA has put forward $1 million to aid in funding the project.

Laura Walker, 20, is the SAA president. She said the new facilities will help further unite the student body of St. Clair College.

“To me the Sports Park is a new generation,” said Walker. “We’re bringing so many innovative concepts to the campus, it’s bringing people together in all aspects of student community coming together as one.”

The Sports Park is intended to be an area for both recreational and varsity sports. The design for the Sports Park was done by local architecture firm Architecttura Inc. Facilities included the Zekelman Indoor Tennis Court, a softball diamond and a soccer stadium. Over 2,000 spectators will be able to watch across the various fields.

St. Clair College President Patricia France said with the facilities the athletes can compete on their own turf.

“What this park means for St. Clair is that we can provide the amenities that the students have been requesting for years and years,” France said. “It’s been really important to us to bring some of our sport teams home.”

Upon its completion the Sports Park will round out a decade of major advancements in St. Clair College facilities joining the MediaPlex, HealthPlex and SportsPlex and further expanding the options available to students for the next decade.