It’s a fixture in Edmonton’s sports and recreation community and now, Foote Field is set to become one of the largest – if not the largest – indoor field in Alberta.
Plans to allow the outdoor field to be converted into a dome for athletics during the winter months were first revealed last winter but now the initiative is inching closer to reality.
READ MORE: University of Alberta approves seasonal inflatable dome over Foote Field
According to the University of Alberta, whose South Campus is home to the field, the dome rollout process began Saturday and is expected to open to the public Dec. 12 when the U of A Golden Bears football program begins its community flag football programming.
Once the dome is up and running, it will be divided into three sections separated by curtains to allow for various sports activities to take place simultaneously. The running track will still be usable while other activities take place inside the facility.
See photo gallery below:
University officials said the dome comes in 10 sections which have been connected together through a combination of Velcro and cables before being inflated. The university said plans are in place to install lighting in addition to the natural light provided by a skylight that runs along the dome’s ceiling.
According to the university, the dome will come down at the end of April and Foote Field will once again become an outdoor facility for the summer months. A storage shed has been built at the north end of the field to hold dome materials.
The university said the dome project cost $3.7 million. Of that amount, $600,000 was raised through two donations of $300,000 each by the Eldon Foote Foundation and the 2001 World Championships in Athletics Legacy Fund. The province also provided a $500,000 grant to help pay for the upgrade while the rest was borrowed.
Watch below: It’s the largest indoor turf field in Alberta and it only took a few days to build from scratch. On Dec. 9, 2016, Jack Haskins filed this report on the dome at Foote Field and the impact it could have on sports in Edmonton.