No Quick Fix for Masich Mess
.html)
The infield is in bad need of repair or possible replacement with an artificial turf.
The Prince George Track and Field Association estimates it will take about $360 thousand to resurface the track.
But before there are any promises on any improvements, there is the development of the "Community Services Master Plan" which will come first. That is the plan that will look at all of the recreational facilities in the City, their use, their costs, their maintenance needs now and in the future.
Superintendent of Operations, Bill Gaal says there are no safety issues with the stadium at this time, however, Tom Masich,after whom the stadium is named, says the track surface "pebbles" are wearing off, to a point where there are some spots where there is a "sheen" which makes runners risking slipping or sliding. He says the slip risk increases in spots where water is pooling. Masich says the current track has, at max, 2 years left in its life.
While councillors recognized the need for the repairs and the upgrades, the item won't likely make it to the Capital plan until 2015.
While Councillors said they would like to see repairs done in 2014 it seemed there was a reluctance to try and make those repairs happen before the Community Services Master Plan has been completed. There is no timeline for the delivery of that plan.
While there had been a plan for an all weather field to be developed at Duchess Park, Councillor Hall says he beleives "That ship has sailed, it is about Masich Place Stadium." He says money that was to be pumped into the Duchess Park plan , should be shifted to Masich Place, especially since it already has the infrastructure needed to be a site to host a variety of events, including soccer. Council has unanimously supported a motion to bring together user groups to discuss ways to prevent further deterioration of the inflied by either improving maintenance or installing artificial turf.
Comments
Somebody is not thinking.
It’s too bad there wasn’t going to be some kind of major sporting event. Maybe even one with a few outdoors activities. You know, for the public to attend.
I bet that if they could take less than a year, they could get it done.
Yea, it’s too bad there isn’t such an event like that in the next year or so. That sure would be cool.
Another example of the city putting infrastructure in and then not thinking to put some money away every year to replace or maintain it so now, yet again, the tax payers will be hit with a big bill when it come time to fix or replace it.
Cement the infield. Paint it green. Problem solved. Used conveyor belts for the track.
A local company can sponsor the track and get naming rights. Do it every 10 years and the cost of replacing the track and fixing the infield. I think half a million dollars is a small price to pay for a large company such as Canfor. Canfor Place Stadium has a nice ring to it.
They can come up with a couple of million dollars out of the blue for a pretty new entrance to the library but then can`t find a few hundred thousand to fix Masich Place.
Obviously the Library must have somebody working behind the scenes to move that project forward. Another example of it is not what you know but who you know.
According to Masich the track was resurfaced 10 years after it was initially installed. That is the preventative maintenance recommendation by the installers so that it does not deteriorate further so that the subsurface will start to deteriorate and lead to more expensive repairs.
So we are into 14 years now, and nobody who is in charge of the place has budged.
So let us now go to the Community Services Master Plan. Am I hearing correctly that there is not an exiting one in place? If there is, then it should have a facility maintenance program included with it. With respect to the track, it seems to me that it should have included a surface replacement for 2010 or so. Why was it not resurfaced then.
Surely someone did not just get out of bed a few weeks or months ago and said to themselves, “hey, we have all these community facilities and services, but we do not have a master plan for them. Chit, better get crackin’.”
Boggles the mind.
“While there had been a plan for an all weather field to be developed at Duchess Park”
We can’t even maintain one properly, why would we spend money for a second one and watch it deteriorate over time as well? We had a good facility at Masich Place, show that it can be maintained and then maybe we can get a second one.
The suggestions was that the public is allowed into the facility and that causes some of the deterioration issues.
There is a track in the Gateway that can still be seen, but has obviously fallen into major disrepair. The same thing happened to the track I used to compete on in HS in another city. It was a nice red cinder “all weather” track for its day. Now it is gone completely and there is a shopping centre in its place.
Things change.
I am concerned that the process to get to the “Community Services Master Plan” may actually discover that it is not worthwhile to maintain the track.
Yep, people can fall and have accidents…like falling on the ice, but does our Mayor care….oh no, she’s needs money to get back to CHina, or who knows where!!
I wonder what was said at the Council meeting tonight and how many went there.
This city has no all-weather outdoor field. If we did, we would save on wear and tear on grass when user groups start too early before the grass has a chance to wake up. An all weather field allows groups to start earlier, end later and offers multiple uses from field hockey to soccer to football to field events. PG needs an all weather field sooner rather than later.
Comments for this article are closed.