Federal Government Invests in Modern Turf Field

The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of National Revenue, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway announced today a significant investment in the construction of a modern turf field that will benefit sporting enthusiasts from Fredericton and the surrounding area for years to come.

"The investment will support the construction of a modern turf field for city residents, help attract sporting events from around the region and generate new economic activity for the area" said Minister Ashfield

Under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program (RInC), a key economic stimulus initiative under Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government is investing $502,000 towards the total project costs of over $1.8 million.This project will allow the City to replace three older fields and construct a first-class turf field next to the future Grant•Harvey Centre, a state-of-the-art sports and leisure centre in Fredericton. Work on the field is expected to begin within the next month and be completed by early fall.

This is really exciting news for sport user groups in Fredericton. The addition of an artificial turf field to the recreation mix at the Grant•Harvey Centre is most welcome and in fact, helps to make this a recreation hub as recommended in our Recreation Master Plan.

During the funding announcement, Mike Gagnon, president of the Fredericton District Soccer Association also announced that the new field would be used as part of the 2011 Under 18 National Club Soccer Championships to be held in Fredericton in October, 2011.