NB government stalling movement on Saint John field house project

A major planned indoor field house in Saint John continues to wait for government support.

The multi-million dollar facility would be able to house a number of sports organizations, including track and field, gymnastics and martial arts.

It’s hoped half the $24 million price tag will be split between the Saint John Exhibition Association, the city and the business community.

The project has reached a third of its capital campaign so far and supporters believe they’re well-positioned in their request for the remaining half to come from the federal and provincial governments.

“We’ve been able to demonstrate some economic impact from the sport tourism side with the number of events we’re pursuing,” said project chairman Bill MacMackin.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We've been able to demonstrate some economic impact from the sport tourism side with the number of events we're pursuing," said project chairman Bill MacMackin.

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“We think there’s a good pitch here to them.”

Sports tourism is big business and some believe projects such as this one will help raise the city’s profile.

“What it means is that we’re on par with other cities of our size that have the capacity to host those level of events,” said Victoria Clarke, Executive Director of Discover Saint John.

The city has committed more than $4 million to the field house but there is one thing standing in the way: the Saint John City Market.

The city has requested $6 million from the province for much needed upgrades, but has yet to hear back.

That implies the city isn’t focused on the field house, but time is of the essence if the project is to proceed on schedule.

“We really value and appreciate the work that the committee of the field house is doing but we’ve made it clear to their committee from the get-go that our priority and our focus is first the City Market and then we can move on to the field house,” said Saint John Mayor Mel Norton.

MacMackin said their end goal is to be up and operating by fall 2018.

“Nothing can start until we have the approval of the provincial and federal governments,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Nothing can start until we have the approval of the provincial and federal governments," he said.

“So, our objective is to try to secure that by fall, and that would allow us to pull the trigger on the initial stages of site work.”