New $2.5 Million Cricket Pitch to go along with new Community Centre?
A recent staff report going to Council this Tuesday night recommending a new Cricket Pitch to be constructed at Steve Omischl Sports Complex if North Bay City Council approves.
The Staff Report: The City of North Bay does not currently have a dedicated regulation sized cricket facility. Currently cricket is played where a field can be temporarily used for this purpose with a softer non-regulation ball that does not fly as far on the smaller field. Cricket has been played in North Bay for approximately ten (10) years.
The local Cricket enthusiasts have played on various City fields and surrounding area facilities with the softer non-regulation ball however, none of these fields or facilities are regulation size. North Bay Cricket Club members have advised that the lack of regulation sized field prevents the Club from hosting regulation tournaments. The Club has advised that there will be better opportunities to hold tournaments in the City with a regulation Cricket Pitch.
Council approved Capital Project 4348PR – Cricket Pitch Construction which outlined the 2024 activities towards site search, site investigation and Cricket Pitch design fees. Throughout 2024, City staff have scanned potential available sites towards finalizing a location for the Cricket field.
The results of the site scan identify Steve Omischl Sports Complex being the recommended site for the construction of a new Cricket Pitch. The benefits of this site include:
Adjacent to six (6) outdoor existing sport fields located at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex facilitating operational efficiencies (incl. maintenance and supervision).
Availability of regularly scheduled Public Transit Adjacent to existing infrastructure including, sewer, water, washrooms parking, irrigation, lighting minimizing capital costs
Multi-use synergies with the planned Community and Recreation Centre (i.e. provisions for indoor tournament administration space, other tournament amenities)
Economic impacts to West Ferris commercial establishments
restaurants, gas stations, motels, hotels
The next steps include detailed investigation of each of the three potential Omischl sites. This will include a detailed topographic survey, geotechnical testing and analysis, environmental approvals and design. This work will lead to the eventual construction of the Cricket Pitch in 2026 contingent on funding achievable through available grant opportunities.
Financial/Legal Implications The design and construction of the new Cricket Pitch was included in the Capital Budget in 2024 and is Capital Project 4348PR with an estimated project cost of $2,510,000. As of the date of this report approximately $5,600 has been spent. The budget anticipated $70,000 from provincial grants which are no longer available however, the City anticipates that 2024 costs will not exceed the $70,000 city funded portion of the 2024 budget.
The construction phase of the project is planned for 2026. The City is exploring all funding opportunities and have identified the province’s newly announced (at AMO) “Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund (CSRIF) and NOHFC-Enhance Your Community Stream as potential funding sources.
In addition to these opportunities other funding sources will continue to be explored. City staff have had discussions with funding partners and have concluded that the Cricket Pitch fits into CSRIF’s Stream 2 as it is a new transformative project addressing a recreation programming gap.
The project has the potential to have significant economic spin offs through increased sport tourism and could attract additional investment as it will broaden the types of offering of the City’s recreation facilities.
Further, impacts on park operations and required user fees will be investigated and developed prior to final project approval by City Council.
