Close [X]

Kelly Kisa of the Pointe Claire girls u18aa team chases down a ball in an exhibition game on new field. (JOHN KENNEY)

• News
• Pointe-Claire

New $4.6-million turf fields open in Pointe Claire

Artificial multi-sport grass fields at Terra Cotta Park will extend playing season; Cost shared with Quebec and Ottawa

Albert Kramberger
The Gazette
Thursday, April 14, 2011

Enlarge

Kelly Kisa of the Pointe Claire girls u18aa team chases down a ball in an exhibition game on new field. (JOHN KENNEY)

Pointe Claire's newest crown jewel, its multi-use synthetic grass fields, is ready for action.

The new synthetic sports fields at Terra Cotta Park have been in use for about a week now for both soccer and rugby practises and exhibition matches.

The total cost of the $4.6-million project was shared by the city, the province and Ottawa, through the Building Canada infrastructure program, said Pointe Claire director general Jean-Denis Jacob.

Besides the two new full-sized artificial grass fields, the project includes revamping the existing natural grass upper field, which is waiting on new sod to be installed sometime this month but is expected to host soccer games by summer. A small natural grass field for 7-a-side soccer will also be set up.

"We redesigned the whole area," Gary Malcolm, director of the city's sports and recreation department, said of Terra Cotta Park.

Work included a new irrigation system for the upper field. The new artificial fields are built on the lower level, which used to have a baseball diamond and a second natural grass soccer pitch.

All three full-sized fields are fenced in completely, have lights and offer stands for fans. One of the synthetic turfs, dubbed field No. 3, only has lines marked for soccer. Field No. 2, however, is a multi-use synthetic turf and offers more perks. It has larger stands, team and referee benches covered by shaded polycarbonate panels, a scoreboard as well as a warm-up track around the perimeter. This field has permanent football goalposts installed and has portable soccer nets for both 7-and 11-a-side games. Field No. 2 has lines marked on the synthetic surface for three sports; yellow for 11-aside soccer and the sidelines, red for 7-a-side soccer dimensions, white for football yardage and blue for rugby rules.

"They did a fantastic job landscaping, planting trees. This will be the envy of the island of Montreal," Pointe Claire Amateur Soccer Association (PCASA) president Jacques Lamontagne said of Terra Cotta Park.

The main benefits of utilizing artificial turf include extending the outdoor soccer season, from earlier in the spring to later into the fall, as well as cutting down on the wear and tear of the city's natural grass fields. For instance, the outdoor season for senior soccer is scheduled to commence May 6, about three weeks earlier than last year.

"We can use (the synthetic fields) as much as we can and we won't put as many games on natural grass fields," said Lamontagne, adding it gives the city a chance to upgrade natural grass fields.

Malcolm said the new synthetic fields have lower maintenance costs, there's no need to mow, and are far more durable than natural grass playing fields. As well, the new turfs will ease pressure on demand for access to natural grass fields.

"For the John Rennie field, the school wanted on it right away but we gave them the option to use the new artificial turf," he said. "It eliminates some usage early on."

While the new artificial fields are destined to be used more often by senior or older youth divisions, the PCASA has decided every level should play at least one game on the new surfaces this summer.

"We want to give every player the opportunity to play one scheduled game on the new turf. The association decided that was our goal this year," Lamontagne said. "It's not fair if only certain people get to play on it."

Besides Pointe Claire soccer teams using the artificial grass fields for pre-season play, high school rugby has also taken advantage of the new turf. St. Thomas boys and girls rugby teams played exhibition games on Pointe Claire's new FieldTurf surface on Tuesday afternoon.

"It's a lot better than a regular field," St. Thomas senior Christina Pelosi said of Terra Cotta's new synthetic fields. "I really like it. It looks really nice and it's clean. It's appealing to look at on top of playing on it."

While one of the artificial surfaces is open for football, rugby or even lacrosse use, at this point, no non-soccer leagues, outside of high school teams, are signed up to play there, Malcolm said. He added some interest has been expressed in setting up an atom level football team as well as for a rugby league.

"It's a vision for the future. This gives us options," he said of the multi-use synthetic field. "We wanted as much flexibility as possible."

The city is planning an open house for early May and expects to invite several teams to try the new fields, Malcolm said.

To see more photos of the news fields, click here.