The Lacombe Athletic Park Association (LAPA) officially broke ground for the field house renovations at the ME Global Athletic Park on Wednesday August 26th. The organization held a small distanced celebration to honour the step forward in the park’s development.

The new renovations will include two new full sized dressing rooms, additional public washrooms, additional seating, an indoor viewing and meeting area, and a second wheelchair ramp.

“One of the big things that we heard from our community is that we needed more bathrooms for sure. There are two bathrooms and when you have a football game going on the lineups would get backed up and we didn’t want to bring porta-potties in anymore,” said Chairperson for the LAPA, Jay Adamson.

Additionally, LAPA came across problems when big sports tournaments were held.  Sometimes, teams would make use of the change rooms in the Lacombe Composite High School when there wasn’t enough space.  

The COVID-19 pandemic did interfere with the project that started a bit later than Adamson hoped, but he says LAPA is trying to remain respectful of the current economic situation.

“We slowed our marketing plan a little bit. We don’t want to go knocking on people’s doors saying ‘Hey, would you like sponsor us?’ When they still want to be cognizant of taking care of their own business and their employees,” added Adamson.

The Chairperson admitted the renovations wouldn't be happening without MEGlobal's involvement in the project. 

The fieldhouse expansion is expected to be finished by the spring so sports teams can get back on the turf when they need it. Phase two of the expansion including the track and field portion of the renovations is still set to begin next year but Adamson expects construction to be a bit later as well due to COVID-19.

The LAPA Gala is still scheduled to go on as normal but attendees may have a different experience.

“We have a coordinator for that and there is a group of us that are on a committee for that planning. We will work to make sure that we are aware of the health and safety of everyone attending but also put on an event that is worthwhile for people to attend. It will be a fun night like it always is,” said Adamson.

Overall, Adamson and LAPA is pleased to see construction begin and looks forward to the day they can bring large sporting events to Lacombe. The organization intends to do the best they can to accommodate the challenging economy and the needs of the community heading forward.