Sudbury

A second soccer bubble facility for Sudbury is moving ahead

A group in Sudbury is going ahead with plans to build a soccer dome in the city.

While the Fabio Belli Foundation rethinks its plans for a sports bubble, a second option moves ahead

This field, adjacent to Kathleen Street at École Sacré-Coeur near downtown Sudbury is where the Sudbury District Sports Club plans to build its year-round sports dome. (Benjamin Aubé/CBC)

A group in Sudbury is going ahead with plans to build a soccer dome in the city.

The Sudbury District Sports Club is the second group to attempt to push this type of project forward.

The other is the Fabio Belli Foundation. 

The foundation found out recently that the province has revoked a promise of 4 million dollars made by the previous Liberal government.

Mike Graham is the project leader for SDSC's sports dome planned for the field beside École Sacré-Coeur off of Kathleen Street.

He says they avoided public funding and sought out private investors.

"I won't say it wasn't challenging. It was very challenging to work with some of these groups to convince them that Sudbury is a good place to invest but it wasn't as difficult as we initially thought."

Graham says there are still politics involved, but in a different way.

"It's a different type of politics. Private venue politics versus public politics but it still has, when you're dealing with multiple people, it's challenging, politics always comes into play."

Graham isn't naming the private investors.

He says right now they're waiting on the city's approval for some permits and then they will negotiate with the contractor and the ground could be broken within ten months.

Graham says the project is non-profit but once open, the users will have to pay towards the maintenance of the facility.