Football, soccer, lacrosse, and track athletes have some fresh facilities to look forward to after the City of Prince Albert and Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division officially announced joint plans to replace Harry Jerome Track.
Preliminary costs for the track portion are estimated at around $1.4 million, according to a report included in a recent city council meeting agenda package. According to the report, capital improvement costs are shared 50/50 between both parties.
Prince Albert’s Community Services Director, Jody Boulet, said he’s happy to see it move forward.
“It’s certainly very exciting,” Boulet said on Wednesday. “The track replacement is the one phase that’s been under discussion for a number of years. To get to this stage with approval and to be able to put the improvements in place for future event hosting opportunities, it’s certainly something that we’re excited about.”
City and school officials began discussing possible upgrades to Harry Jerome Track after Prince Albert hosted the 2018 provincial high school track and field championships. Boulet said the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association (SHSAA) notified both parties the track didn’t meet provincial standards.
Prince Albert was originally scheduled to host the provincial meet again in 2024, but had to decline to because the track wasn’t in good enough condition. Boulet said the upgrades will ensure that doesn’t happen again.
“That certainly magnified the need,” Boulet explained. “It’s something, as well, that is a large magnitude to undertake. It does take time to plan and set money aside and make sure that we have something in place to fund it now, moving forward, so that we don’t have to decline those kinds of situations in the future. It will put us in a position where we’re more proactive in wanting to host those types of events in Prince Albert.”
Boulet said the goal is to start base work on the new track this fall, provided the weather holds out. Full construction will begin next spring, with completion scheduled for early September 2024.
When combined with upgrades to the diamonds at Prime Ministers’ Park and the new indoor rinks and aquatics centre, Boulet said Prince Albert will have plenty of opportunities to host large tournaments and championships.
“When you start to put all these pieces together, I think it’s really going to lead to a lot of future opportunities for events to be hosted here in Prince Albert and puts us really in a positive position to leverage all that hosting capacity,” he explained.
The current track has been used for more than 20 years, and Saskatchewan Rivers Facilities Manager Mike Hurd said it was starting to show some wear and tear.
Hurd said the surface is deteriorating, and heaving ground means it’s not level in some spots. The division was also told the track needed one more running lane to host provincial events.
Once completed, the track will have a roughly 10-year warranty. With proper maintenance and repairs, Hurd said it will last another 20-30 years.
“When we rebuild this track, it’ll be a state of the art track (that’s) up to date, and it’ll eliminate any of those concerns the high school athletic association may have had for us running provincial track meets,” Hurd said.
The track replacement is an increase in scope to another Sask. Rivers project: replacing the grass at Max Clunie Field with artificial turf. Construction crews will also install new synthetic turf to replace the grass field at Max Clunie Field before finishing the track replacement.
Hurd said they wanted to do the new field first so crews and equipment weren’t crossing a newly installed track surface. That means work on the upgrades won’t start until the end of the 2023 high school football season.
Hurd said the new turf will be similar to what the Saskatchewan Roughriders have inside Mosaic Stadium.
“You’ve kind of got to do the turf first,” he explained. “If you’re planning on doing a field down the road, you can’t build a track … then drive all that heavy equipment over it to try and build a field. It just made sense that if we were going to be replacing that track, we put consideration into modernizing that field and updating it like you would at other venues.”
As with the track, wear and tear was a concern with Max Clunie Field’s natural grass playing surface. Prince Albert football, lacrosse, and soccer teams all use the field. That heavy use, combined with bad weather, can leave the field patchy, muddy, and unusable until it dries out. Hurd said that won’t be a problem with the new turf.
As with the track, the synthetic upgrades will be ready by September 2024. It will have a lifespan of 10-12 years, with proper maintenance.
“Hopefully by this time next year it’s complete and they’re playing football on it,” Hurd said.
Prince Albert City Council gave the track replacement project unanimous approval at Tuesday’s City Council Meeting. Mayor Greg Dionne and Sask. Rivers Board Chair Darlene Rowden were both pleased to see the project move forward.
“Upgrading the Harry Jerome track will bolster our ability to draw a greater number of events,” Dionne said in a press release. “Our consistent investments in our facilities in recent years have already resulted in an increased presence of tournaments and championships in our City.
“The partnership between both parties on this project serves as a major improvement to Prime Minister’s Park, which will benefit local organizations and attract major events in the future to Prince Albert.”
“We are pleased the Board is able to assist all Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division students and families with this excellent opportunity for sports, culture and learning for many years to come,” Rowden added. “The long-term benefits for athletes and the community will be second to none. We continue to strive for excellence for every learner, and we believe this will have many benefits for our students and the community because of the project.”
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly staged the cost of replacing Harry Jerome Track and upgrade Max Clunie Field s $750,000. The story has been updated with the correct information. The Daily Herald apologizes for the error.
