A seasonal dome will be taken into consideration by the City of Airdrie for the proposed artificial turf field at Ed Eggerer Athletic Park after council reviewed the possibility on March 6.

Brad Anderson, Manager of Genesis Place brought forward the idea of an optional bubble structure over the field that could be a part of the project, according to a 2021 feasibility assessment.

According to Chris Glass, President of the Airdrie Field Turf Project (AFTP), council currently has around six to seven million dollars allotted to build the turf field. At the presentation, it was brought up that it could end up costing a total of around $15 million for the turf field and the seasonal dome.

"Cost is always going to be a concern at 12 to $15 million for a dome facility, that's a big ticket item. So, what we would like to see at the AFTP, and I believe is shared by a lot of city council is a phased approach if we do go with a domed option: Build the field now, and have it be converted to a dome facility so the budget hit is a couple of million now and then as we get further down the path we can add to the cost later."

Glass is confident the turf field on its own wont actually cost the full six to seven million dollars to save the city some money.

"The contractors we've talked to that have done these programs in other places that three, three and a half million is probably where a turf field would come in. And at that price, you know, we want to see it build sooner rather than later."

While Glass is very eager to get this turf field built as soon as possible, he does like the idea of having a dome up so sports other than football can use it during the winter months.

"I love the idea of a dome facility, but this can't wait for five or six years, this needs to be done by 2024. This need has been around for a very, very long time. I don't want to see the option of a dome, slowing down the progress that we've already made and I want to see us play on this field by 2024"

The next step for the project is to review soil samples that were taken at Ed Eggerer Place, then options will be brought forward to council before the next steps will be taken.

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