By Andrea Horton
Fernie has been short on soccer fields for many years and with an ever-increasing number of participants (2011 - 400 registered participants) there is a serious need to increase the number of full sized fields.
On December 19, 2011 Council approved a grant application to the Province of British Columbia Community Recreation Program to re-develop the Max Turyk Soccer Fields. The current budget allotted to the project is $225,000 while the total cost is $575,937. If the grant is approved the Community Recreation Program will contribute up to 80 per cent of the total cost which is $460,750.
If it goes ahead the project will include realigning the current field to allow for a second field to be developed at the same location. One playing field will run north and south and the other will run east and west. There is a 13 metre space planned between fields and a fence may be required to separate them.
The deadline for the grant application is December 28.