Councillors of the City of Abbotsford unanimously passed a motion on the evening of Tuesday, June 24 at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium to exclude 34252 King Road and include 1010 and 2146 Lefeuvre in the development of a new sports and recreation park.
Rotary Stadium has served as home field for the Cascades since 2021, and without a practice field on campus grounds, Bateman Park has served as their primary practice field. UFV and the University of Northern British Columbia are the only teams in the Pacific Division of Canada West without a practice field on site. UNBC’s practice field is an 8-10 minute walk from campus.
Abbotsford’s vision for their new sports and recreation complex is described as large format with multiple fields on the premises. The location is classified as very suitable for a citywide park and very compatible with agriculture.
Now that the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR)’s land exclusion application for a portion of 34252 King Road has been approved, as well as the ALR’s land inclusion application for 1010 and 2146 Lefeuvre Road, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) can move forward with planning the park’s construction on the 49 acre property.
Councillor Patricia Driessen called the future development an “exciting opportunity,” mentioning that having a new sports and recreation park in the university district will make it easily accessible by major transportation including public transit.
Council noted that a new sports and recreation park aligns with Abbotsford’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and the ALC’s mandate. Section 6.3 of the OCP policy states that the city’s desire is to “explore and support opportunities to encourage the use of fallow or underutilized properties”; while the ALC’s mandate is described as giving priority to protecting and enhancing the size, integrity, and continuity of the land base of the agricultural land reserve.
A group called the Abbotsford Recreation Advocacy have been actively petitioning for a reinvestment from the city into Rotary Stadium, citing aging wooden bleachers, a scoreboard that isn’t active for track meets, and underfunded upkeep of the facility.
City Mayor Ross Siemens said that this project has the potential to serve as a template for neighbouring municipalities and he expressed excitement to see it progress.
