Irving Oil Field House Hosts Grand Opening In Saint John
SAINT JOHN – It took more than six years and over $27-million but the Irving Oil Field House finally had its grand opening on Saturday afternoon.
The 127,000 square-foot facility includes turf fields, a track, a gym, daycare care, meeting rooms and a newcomer centre.
Bill MacMackin with the Field House says the facility will provide community and sports recreation for the region with summer sports and events that can come indoors that couldn’t be offered before.
He says the other key component is the events.
“We’ve ultimately built a facility here that can host sporting events in eastern Canada that otherwise couldn’t come here particularly around track and field,” said MacMackin.
It was announced in September that Irving Oil would have naming rights for the facility and contribute $2 million dollars to its capital campaign.
The Saint John YMCA signed a five-year operating agreement last year with the field house board.
President and CEO Shilo Boucher tells us the newcomer centre, daycare and after-school facility are working really well.
“In terms of newcomers, we are already welcoming some of our newcomers on the east side which allows them a whole different realm of opportunities in terms of housing and employment. So that’s working really well,” said Boucher.
MacMackin says the facility’s first event is coming up on November 23rd with mostly provincial athletes.
“A chance for us to test drive our equipment and the track and get some bugs worked out. We go fully into gear with five events after Christmas,” said MacMackin.
Tamara Steele is a reporter with CHSJ/Country 94, a Huddle content partner.