Tourism, Culture and Recreation
April 20, 2007

The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

Construction Begins on Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Centre

The steering committee of the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Centre is pleased to announce that construction has begun on the new provincial training facility.

With an estimated construction cost of $7 million, the NL Sports Centre includes two separately tendered facilities centrally located at the Swilers Rugby Complex on Crosbie Road. Construction of the multi-purpose indoor training facility has been awarded to Marco Services. The high-performance centre construction contract has been awarded to Olympic Construction.

"We are very pleased to be one step closer to seeing the NL Sports Centre become a reality. Sport organizations in the province are anxiously looking forward to having this first-class facility available for training and competition. I would like to thank our member sport governing bodies for their support and contribution to this process" said Tom Godden, president of Sport NL.

"The construction of this facility will add to the value of the recreational and tourism infrastructure of the City of St. John's and play a vital role in the development of the province's athletes. The citizens of St. John's will benefit through the indirect economic spin-off from the operation of such a major piece of sport tourism infrastructure and benefit our athletes through personal use of the facility with it's professional staff and instructors" said City of St. John�s Mayor Andy Wells.

"Athletes, coaches, sport organizations and volunteers will undoubtedly benefit from this facility, which will also serve to build on the successes of our athletes and will encourage our youth to become more active in organized sports," said the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. "The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is proud to support this project"

"I�m delighted to see the construction getting started and I congratulate all those involved," said the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Regional Minister for Newfoundland and Labrador, on behalf of the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. "The steering committee, the city council and the Provincial Government, along with ourselves, have worked so hard to make this a reality, and it�s a great example of what can be done when we choose to work together."

Naming rights to the NL Sports Centre have been agreed upon, though the purchaser wishes to remain anonymous to date. The new name will be unveiled in the near future. Naming rights to the High Performance Centre have been secured by Dr. Pat Parfrey, and will be called the Noel Browne High Performance Centre after the long-time friend and founder of rugby in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Crosbie Group has purchased rights to name the two gymnasia and will use the opportunity to remember past relations, Andrew C. Crosbie and Bernard D. Parsons.

With construction already started for the NL Sports Centre, a completion date is tentatively set for November 7, 2007.

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Media contacts:

Troy Croft
Executive Director
Sport Newfoundland and Labrador
(709) 576-4932
troy@sportnl.ca
 
John Tompkins
Director of Communications
Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation
709-729-0928, 728-7762
jtompkins@gov.nl.ca
Julie Afonso
A/Director, Public Affairs
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
NL Regional Office
709-772-2984
 

 

BACKGROUNDER
Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Centre

  • Sport NL has 50,000 athletes, 20,000 coaches and 800 administrators in 44 different sports organizations.
  • The primary purpose of the NL Sports Centre is to serve as a venue for training and hosting provincial, national and international competition for these 70,000-plus athletes, coaches, and administrators through use of two new facilities: a multi-purpose indoor training facility and a high-performance centre.
  • The NL Sports Center is funded through a cost-sharing private/public partnership between the three orders of government and the private sector. The federal portion of the funding partnership is via the Municipal and Rural Infrastructure Fund as administered by ACOA. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador�s $2.5 million contribution is through the Department of Tourism, Culture, and Recreation. The remaining share of funds comes from a $1.3 million contribution by the City of St. John�s and in excess of $1 million in privately raised funds led by the Swilers Rugby Club and Sport NL.
  • Privately raised funds to date are a result of 117 different donors including private individuals, sports groups, small business, financial institutions, and large corporations combining for $1.7 million in cash and in-kind donations. These donations range from $100 to $25,000.

Multi-purpose indoor training facility

  • The NL Sports Centre will have one of the largest hardwood sports floors in Canada. This floor is designed to withstand the rigors of high-use training and perform at a high standard for all levels of competition in multiple sports.
  • With an unobstructed interior floor space of 64m in length X 46m in width, the NL Sports Centre is equal to half the size of a rugby or soccer field and has a ceiling height of more than 10m.
  • The gymnasium will have four basketball, seven volleyball or seven badminton courts playable at any one time. The facility will also have main centre courts for each of these sports.
  • This floor space can be subdivided into six equal spaces (15m x 32m) by divider curtains to accommodate multiple activities at once.
  • Seating capacity on opening will be in the region of 400 people but can be increased significantly depending on the event.
  • With a combat room of 109 square metres, complete with wall-to-wall seamless sports mat and wall padding, the NL Sports Centre can cater to Sport NL�s 6 qualified combat sports in wrestling, tae kwon do, karate, judo, boxing and kenpo. This space can also entertain other training uses for all sports.

High-performance centre

  • The high-performance centre will include a 242 square-metre strength and conditioning room capable of handling up to 20 athletes at any one time.
  • A multi-purpose board room for hosting technical courses, coaching clinics, meetings and seminars can accommodate up to 50 people.


2007 04 20                                                      2:55 p.m.

 


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