Loyola dome dependent on government funding

Concordia’s project to renovate the Loyola football field might be cut short if government subsidies do not go through.
“Up until now, we haven’t got it,” said Peter Bolla, the associate president of Concordia’s facilities management. “But we’re still hopeful. If we don’t get it, we’ll study seriously just going ahead with the dome portion only,” he said. “There are a lot of cities that are asking for funding, we have to line up like everybody else. We just have to hope our project is considered more interesting than others so we get the money.”
According to a report submitted to the Board of Governors by vice-rector of services at Concordia Michael Di Grappa, the school is counting on a $7.5 million subsidy from the Quebec Education Ministry to fund Phase I of the project, which includes the construction of a winter dome over the field, the addition of permanent stands and lockers, and the renovation of the arena. The Education Ministry subsidy is being counted on to make up half of the project’s estimated $15 million cost, with the rest coming from the Departement d’affaires Municipales.
According to Bolla, Phase IA of the project, the construction of the dome, is currently underway with an estimated cost of $3.8 million. The rest of Phase I, according to the report submitted by Di Grappa, will be completed in mid-March 2010.
Concordia will likely also request funding from the government for subsequent phases of the project, if those stages are reached. According to Bolla, the entire renovation project and sports centre expansion could cost up to $60 million, but Concordia is just one of many organizations seeking funding amidst the recent announcement of budget cuts.
“The project is currently out for tender. We expect a possible go-ahead for the project in May. It would be up in October or November, because it’s a winter dome,” said Bolla. “We were hoping to do the dome and stands together, but we haven’t had word from Quebec for the funding, so we decided to start just with the dome portion of Phase I.”
The ministry of education was not available for comment.