Concordia Journal Home > Archives > January 31, 2008 issue >

Athletic complex due for a facelift 

By Barbara Black

A major initiative to upgrade Concordia’s 40-year-old athletic facilities on the Loyola Campus will start as soon as the plans have made their way through the official channels.

The renewal plan includes an indoor pool, though that will be built late in the four-phase project. The first phase will see a giant dome built over one of the two playing fields — installed every November and dismantled in April so that field sports can be played all year round.

Also in the first phase are permanent stands for spectators, and locker rooms for football, soccer and rugby players, as well as visiting teams.

The second phase will include a new triple gymnasium with a fitness centre similar to the successful one on the downtown campus, plus locker rooms.
The third phase calls for a retrofit of the aging arena, and the fourth phase will see the demolition of the existing gym and the construction of an eight-lane, 25-metre swimming pool. (The order of these phases is subject to change, pending fundraising and other opportunities.)

Katie Sheahan, Director of Recreation and Athletics, knows all about the need for the renewal. The figures don’t lie.

“When we calculate the amount of available recreational and athletics space per student, Concordia has 10 times less than the others,” she said. “We have 0.05 square metres per student. McGill has 0.63, Laval has 0.5, and the Université de Montréal has 0.42. Even when we complete this project, we’ll still only have half the area of the next closest one.”

The Loyola facilities were built in 1967 for the 3,000 male students of Loyola College. Now they have to serve a population 15 times that size, including elite athletes of both sexes who compete nationally and internationally. Sports tournaments can be embarrassing, as visiting teams must be housed in aging (though clean and well-maintained) facilities.

Sheahan has visited the other Montreal university sports facilities and talked to a lot of students. Students tell her Concordia has the fastest shuttle service. “You want to go to the pool for a swim? You can get out to Loyola in 15 minutes — and often more quickly!” she said.

She has also observed that the other universities have made strategic alliances. McGill has the Alouettes professional football games; the U de M facilities were built to house the training centre for the Olympic Games in 1976. Laval serves Quebec City sports fans, and Sheahan sees Concordia’s Loyola Campus renewal as a community resource, too.

“Concordia has made some strategic choices,” Sheahan said. “We have a tremendous record of building great facilities — the new science complex, the engineering and visual arts building, the business school. Concordia’s on the move, a happening place.”

Now it’s time to build for healthy bodies as well as active minds which are values that are near and dear to Honorary Recreation and Athletics Campaign Chair Larry Smith. Smith and a stellar team comprised of alumni leaders as well as Sheahan and Director, Special Initiatives, Dominique McCaughey, have been setting the fundraising groundwork for the development of the Loyola facilities. The project is under discussion with the Quebec government and the City of Montreal.