The city finally celebrated the grand, official re-opening of Shouldice Athletic Park Saturday.
The opening of the plaza event marked the final phase of an ongoing redevelopment project. The athletic space was badly damaged in the 2013 flood, a set- back for the project.
Shouldice Athletic Park serves over 6,000 football players and is home to several baseball, softball and soccer league events.
“I still remember flying over this place during the flood and my heart just sticking in my throat going ‘all that hard work’ and it got flooded. But we fixed it, we re mediated it. We opened this wonderful plaza and the kids are excited about the locker rooms,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said.
The park was designated by city council as the ‘home of amateur football in Calgary’ in 1986, and has more than one million visitors every year.
“This is extremely important for amature sport, football in particular. As a fan myself, I’m proud to have this not only in Calgary, but in my community,” Stephanie McLean, MLA for Calgary-Varsity, said.