As the City of Sarnia looks to improve and expand its recreational amenities, a local man has an idea that he says will save money and benefit the environment.
Brian Clarke is a tennis instructor at Northern Collegiate and runs the Tennis4Kids program.
He wants the city to explore the feasibility of constructing a pressurized air dome which would have something for everyone, from tennis, to lawn bowling, to soccer, baseball, aerobic dance, volleyball, pickleball and badminton.
It could also have a walking trail around the perimeter, a fitness centre, sports injury clinic, and opportunities to show movies from a projector onto the wall.
The top of the dome would be translucent to let in plenty of natural light.
Clarke said a typical dome is about 36,000 square feet, or nearly the equivalent of two NHL ice surfaces side by side.
"I have talked to a number of local contractors in Sarnia-Lambton and they have accurate figures on what this particular structure would cost," said Clarke. "I want to present that to both the City of Sarnia and Lambton County as a potential asset for everyone that lives in the county."
Clarke said he's drawn up a potential floor plan, and has all of the necessary information gathered on what it would take to construct the facility.
"The whole idea is that once you have what's called a 'ring beam', a concrete foundation around the perimeter and a concrete floor inside, once that's completed you attach the uninflated dome to the top of the foundation. You push a button, and a few hours later the structure is ready for use. It's done without any interior supports."
Clarke said a dome would cost anywhere between $4.5 and $5 million dollars, which is 30 to 40 per cent of the cost of a traditional building.
"This figure includes all of the equipment that would be in this room, and it's all portable and could change day to day depending on what's going on," he said. "Usually, in a situation like this, you're going to create an area that would be landscaped around the perimeter and may have a security fence. A similar facility, with conventional construction, would be in the $25 million range. So, this dome is affordable. From the taxpayers' point of view this isn't going to break the bank."
Clarke said the money would be recovered by the city by implementing user fees, and possibly incorporating a retail component.
"Keep in mind that a number of things can be taking place in this room at the same time," he said. "It's designed so that you might have someone playing tennis here, and at the other end there might be aerobics class or what have you. A lot of the floor is made of artificial turf, it looks like grass but it isn't. You can have any number of things happening."
He said funding could also be available under Enbridge Gas' "Sustain" program.
"Enbridge will pay for the upfront costs of creating all of the technology," said Clarke. "That would be a combination of a ground source heating and cooling system and a solar system to run the electricity for this. If this happened in the community, to the best of my knowledge, it'd be the first of its kind in Canada."
Clarke said Enbridge would maintain ground source equipment for 40 years and 25 years for solar.
He said Broadwell Air Domes, Farley Group and Arizon Domes are a few of the major manufacturers.
The matter is expected to be brought before Sarnia City Council at a later date.