Sarnia area athletes could soon have their very own indoor rec centre to play, train and workout in.
The city has launched a feasibility study for an indoor multi-use recreation facility. Sarnia council approved spending $74,000 for the study back in April.
Councillor Nathan Colquhoun said it's a positive step forward in the process.
"It'll show us some options for costs, show us some options for what type of facility this is going to become, what are some good locations," he said. "And then that will come back to council, along with a bunch of different funding things, if we can take funding from different provincial grants and things like that, and then council will vote again on moving forward or not with that."
Colquhoun launched a petition in 2019 to get the ball rolling on building a sports complex.
"It was my motion that came from that petition, but really it's the 1,500-plus people that signed the petition that I think just showed council and the city that this is something that Sarnia needs and something we're all really excited about moving forward with."
The petition has now grown to over 1,700 signatures since news on the feasibility study was announced.
Colquhoun, who was elected to council in 2018, said one of his personal goals for getting on council was to start the process of getting a rec centre built.
"Specifically with indoor turf for soccer, batting cages for baseball, and possibly beach volleyball courts," he said. "Everywhere you look, if anyone is serious at all about their healthy lifestyle or wanting to play sports or training to get better at sports, they're almost all travelling out of town. I just think it's time that Sarnia had a place like that right here in the city."
Colquhoun is now encouraging local residents to take part in a community survey, which goes until July 21. For a link to the survey, click here.