Rockwood could be home to a new $14-million sports complex if a joint provincial/federal grant is approved.
The proposed sportsplex would include an NHL-sized indoor ice rink, as well as multi-purpose court and walking track, said Chris White, mayor of Guelph/Eramosa Township.
It would also eventually house the township’s Parks Department.
The township is in the process of applying for a $10-million grant from the Investing in Canadian Infrastructure Program (ICIP) toward the sportsplex, which is proposed to be built in Rockmosa Park.
“Initially we were looking to just do an outdoor covered ice pad because that would only have been about $1.5 million,” said White. “This grant came along and it fit the bill for a lot of the demands that were in the parks master plan that we did.”
If approved, 40 per cent of the $14-million project would be covered by the federal government, while 33.33 per cent would be kicked in from the provincial government.
That leaves about $3.8 million to come from the municipality.
White said the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre in Marden will be paid off next year and after that its revenues will be put toward the Rockwood project.
“We can do this and initially it will run a deficit, but when we pay off the Marden venture, the revenue from that can be used to offset the shortfall,” said White.
Guelph/Eramosa residents can use the Marden facility for free, while out-of-towners pay a user fee. It features indoor soccer pitches and a running track.
“We have a lot of people come up from Guelph to use the facility, so to some degree what happens is outside users end up funding it,” said White.
He expects the same to happen with the proposed Rockwood sportsplex’s rink.
“When you look at the demand for ice time between Georgetown, Milton and Guelph — it’s there. Our plan is that the ice time rentals will actually pay for the complex, to a large degree,” said White.
An ice rink in Rockwood has been in the township’s plans since at least 2004.
“If we don’t get this grant we are going back to planning for a covered ice pad, which in itself would need a grant because we don’t have the capital for that,” said White.
