107th Year - Week 38
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
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STRIKE OUT Sports affected by teachers’ strike.
SPORTS/A13
SCHOOL SHUTDOWN Town to close Ranger Park Preschool
COMMUNITY/A17
WORKSITE BLOCKADE Group takes over drill pad near Iskut.
THREE RIVERS/B2
INSIDE LETTERS A7 SPORTS A13 COMMUNITY A17 OUR TOWN A19 THREE RIVERS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B4
Upgrades coming to Chandler Park By Chris Gareau Smithers/Interior News
Soccer in Smithers may soon be getting a quarter-milliondollar boost from the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District to buy equipment for and make repairs on Chandler Park. The money would come from the district’s gas tax funds. Smithers town council voted to accept the funds at last Tuesday’s meeting, pending approval of the application. Smithers rural director Stoney Stoltenberg was on hand to make the offer a month after he was first approached for soccer field rehabilitation funding. The money would go to the town, which owns the property, as recreation funding. The money would then be dedicated to the soccer pitches. “It’s not genderspecific; it’s multigenerational. I can’t think of anything better to put that money towards,” said Stoltenberg at the meeting. There is also another $20,000 from the regional district for a walking track around the new Smithers arena’s boards that may be approved at Thursday’s district meeting. See PARK on A5
CANCER CARE Noah Stolte, a 13-year-old cancer survivor, cuts off Const. Jennifer McCreesh’s locks during a Cops for Cancer fundraiser on Sunday. McCreesh will be riding from Prince George to Prince Rupert. Chris Gareau photo
Sport complex presented By Chris Gareau Smithers/Interior News
An architectural design for a large indoor sports complex to be built beside Smithers Secondary School was presented at last Tuesday’s Bulkley Valley School District’s operations board meeting. Stretching 100 feet by 100 feet, with a maximum height of 35 feet, the plan by Vancouver’s KMBR Architects Planners Inc. was described as the “cadillac version” by superintendent Chris van der Mark. “As we start going through this it may look different, but certainly the layout has a lot of
possibilities to it,” said van der Mark at the meeting. “The size could be that; the sizes may vary. Obviously, that’s going to be part of the budgetary considerations in terms of what you can or can’t include.” The design includes a little more than half the space being used for a full-size indoor soccer and rugby field surrounded by a 550-ft running track suspended from the ceiling. The other half of the facility would include a court that would be used for both basketball and volleyball near the main entrance. At the back of the building would be a beach volleyball court, confined
so as to not spread sand in other parts of the complex. The ceiling would be 25 feet high over the basketball/volleyball court. Between the courts would be an area divided into two floors. On the first level a 12-fthigh multi-purpose fitness room is drawn in, with architect Witmar Abele suggesting it could be a gym. On the second floor is 13-ft-high space for a cardio or yoga studio. Windows in the studio would look down on the courts on both sides. Dividing the indoor field from the other half of the complex on the ground level would be the dressing rooms, washrooms,
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equipment storage, offices, and a concession area. Above those would be a viewing gallery with bleacher seating open to both the field and courts The running track would also be reached from this mezzanine level and is meant to be a multi-feature feature. “Especially for the volleyball and basketball, the seating capacity is in the gymnasium next door,” said van der Mark at the meeting. “Obviously for soccer or rugby we don’t actually have stadia for that type of thing anyways, so it really becomes an off-season, an extended season training facility.” See SPORT COMPLEX on A4
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