By Tyler Marr

Amenity expansions proposed at Alfred Jenkins Field House

May 18, 2018 | 2:00 PM

New basketball courts, soccer pitches, and an accessible playground could be coming to the Alfred Jenkins Fields House, thanks to donations from a local philanthropist and community club.

At a recent executive council meeting, city council heard details of a new $2.1 million development that could be in store for the complex. The highlight of the expansion is a $1 million Inclusive Jumpstart Playground that will be one of Saskatchewan’s only fully-inclusive playgrounds. The Canadian Tire charity Jumpstart, along with Prince Albert Canadian Tire Owner Malcolm Jenkins, will fund 90 per cent of the structure and surfacing, only leaving the city on the hook for site amenities like benches and lighting.  

“There are 82 other cities that were in line to get this project, and by getting involved locally we’ve been able to scoot to the front of the line,” Jenkins told council.

The 10,000 square foot playground will be in a triangular shape with a rubber surface and have equipment to support those with disabilities. An example of this, according to Jenkins, is a merry-go-round with a wheelchair ramp. He also said some equipment will be geared towards autistic children, and the hope is to have the facility ready to play by Labour Day.

“They have a few in the United States and they have found people will go several hundred miles to go to the site to give their kid that experience,” Jenkins explained.

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Also kicking in cash for the project is the Prince Albert Youth Soccer Association. They are footing $304,000 which will go towards two new regulation-size fields to help meet the growing need and lessen the organization’s dependence on school fields. The fields will have natural turf and bleachers, and the goal is to have the fields playable for the 2019 outdoor season. The city will kick in the remaining $40,000.

Two outdoor three-on-three basketball courts are also slated for the development. The courts will be accessible from the Rotary Trail and there is a proposed parking lot expansion in close proximity. Jenkins put up $150,000 of the total cost, estimated at $185,000, for the courts, and said he will work with Canadian Tire to provide 500 free basketballs at the grand opening ceremony, which was tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2018.

Accessibility upgrades to the parking lot are also proposed.

Overall, the city will only have to put up around $700,000 of the estimated $2.139 million bill. All of this will come from the Facilities Reserve and carryover from the Community Services Land Fund.

While the project did not receive formal approval at the executive meeting — that must be done at a council meeting — councillors expressed little trepidation on the matter. Some questioned the current state of parking at the field house, worried the additional development could add stress to a less-than-perfect parking lot, but Mayor Greg Dionne did not see that as a major issue. 

“We are a country of land and we can solve it. We have lots of fields and we can build parking,” Dionne said. “If people say to me, ‘Greg, we are jammed up there in the parking,’ we will expand.”

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr