Memorial Park soccer dome idea collapses
The soccer field at Memorial Park won’t find a new winter home under a dome.
The North Toronto Soccer Club is scrapping its plans to build a heated bubble over a synthetic soccer field on Chaplin Cr. so the field could be used in the winter months.
The club is currently working on a revised plan that will only include installing an artificial turf, said Doug Blair, the soccer club’s director.
Blair said their new proposal eliminates the potential for increased traffic and parking problems the winterized dome on the school board-owned site would have brought to Chaplin.
After the community raised a stink about the potential traffic problems, a city parking study was planned, but due to delays and the summer city workers strike, the study never happened.
“Rather than wait for something to be done, we’ll just forget the winter part and do something for the spring, summer and early fall,” Blair said.
Eglinton-Lawrence trustee Howard Goodman admited the plan may have caused gridlock problems.
“It would be foolish to put a new winter load onto Chaplin, which is already an absolute mess,” he said.
Street parking is prohibited on Chaplin, but cars are often left parked illegally on the street during peak hours, making maneuvering difficult for cars and buses. During the winter, the street is significantly narrowed because of the combination of a median and snow banks, causing further traffic problems.
Goodman said he has seen the road so obstructed with illegally parked vehicles that buses have needed guiding down the narrow roadway by traffic officers or have had to use the northbound lanes on the opposite side of the median.
“As a public institution, we should not be doing something that jeopardizes safety,” he said. “What if there is an ambulance or a fire truck that’s trying to get by?”
Those using the field have been asked to use the school parking lots, but illegal parking persists.
Blair said the soccer club is going forward with a proposal to use synthetic turf to replace the natural grass, which is currently in poor condition.
The club has installed synthetic fields on board property in the past, including covering a dirt field at Deer Park school paid for by both the soccer club and the school board.
This is a second failed attempt to put a heated dome on school property by the soccer club. A few years ago, the similar Field of Dreams proposal for Northern SS was scrapped after disorganization and resident opposition.
For the Memorial Park field, the soccer club is offering to provide the $1 million the synthetic turf will cost in exchange for permitted use.
“There’s a shortage of playing fields in Toronto,” said Goodman. “If the other problems (like parking) disappear, the general idea of improving recreation facilities for children and adults is an important goal.”