The $106 million (£66 million/€84 million) investment of the Kinsmen Sports Centre would help turn the recreation centre into a state-of-the-art training and competition venue.

The proposals include creating a ground-floor lobby, an expanded fitness centre and new racket courts, as well as widening the 50 metre warm-up pool and adding more parking spaces.

"I think it's one of our premier facilities," Edmonton City Council member Ben Henderson told CBC News. 

"The aquatic part was built for the Commonwealth Games [in 1978].

"Obviously, if we do the Games again, it becomes critical for all the same reasons and it would be essential to use it again."

The Centre, one of only two major facilities located in Edmonton's core, has had minor upgrades in the years since 1978, but nothing on the scale that is now being proposed in a city report.

Staff at the Centre are initially asking for $11 million (£7 million/€9 million) over the next three years to fund design work, a parking expansion and the replacement of the entrance sign.

If the recommendation is approved, the rest of the construction would be due to begin in 2019.

Edmonton staged the Commonwealth Games in 1978 ©Getty Images



While most Edmontonians are only now hearing about the idea, the Centre's director Brad Badger said the plans have been in motion for years. 

"We're starting to fall behind a little bit, having the amenities that support all the things and all the users who use our facility," he said.

About 650,000 use the facility each year, making it the second busiest recreation centre in the city, but Badger said that number could rise to more than one million once the proposed updates are complete. 

He hopes the proposed changes will encourage both high-performance athletes and regular fitness enthusiasts to use the Centre.

"More than any other facility, this place is about two different types of users and this plan is really trying to meet their needs as well as we can and offer things for both of them," he said.

The Council will discuss the report tomorrow when the Community Services Committee meets.

South African city Durban is Edmonton's only rival to stage the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games Federation is due to choose the winning candidate at its General Assembly in Auckland on September 2, 2015.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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