New rec complex proposed for Kitchener's Schlegel Park to serve growing area of the city

Changes are planned forone of Kitchener, Ont.'s newest parks as major development is expected to get underway at the RBJ Schlegel Park this spring.

The city has unveiled a proposal to build a new multi-purpose indoor recreation complex that will include aFIFA-sized indoor turf field that can accommodatesports likesoccer, cricket and lacrosse.

It will also have anaquatics centre, asecond-floor walking track and anindoor cricket batting cage.

The proposal still has to be approved at council on April 8 and if it gets approved, construction could start as early as May.

"It's really about taking the park to the next level with what will be probably the largest and most innovative recreation complex in the City of Kitchener," Mayor Berry Vrbanovic told CBC News, adding the complex will also have the capacity to build a gymnasium in the future.

Vrbanovic said the rec complex's indoor FIFA-sized fieldwill bethe only one if its kind in the city and couldattract potential competitive games to the region.

City's firstnet-zero carbon building

RBJ Schlegel Park is in the city's southwest park, an area where there's massive development and growth. Vrbanovic said the complex will not only serve that growing community, but othercommunities across Kitchener and Waterloo region.

"We're really excited about some of the dialogue and partnerships we've made with Kitchener Soccer and those in the local cricket community because it will also meet their needs," he said.

The new rec complex would also be the city's firstnet-zero carbon building. Itwill havegeothermal heating and cooling and the largest solar panel in the city, with the aim of reducing 22 tonnes of carbon annually.

Coun. Margaret Johnston said community facilities are one of the of the city's largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

"If we are going to make meaningful progress towardthe city's greenhouse gas emissiontargets, we are going to have to do things differently with our facilities," she said in a release.

Vrbanovic said theoverall project will cost $144 million, to bepaid through development charges and grants from the federal and provincial governments.