A $2.4-million infrastructure grant means the City of Victoria won’t have to scale back its plans to rebuild the playing fields at Topaz Park.
This week the city agreed to amend its financial plan to include the grant, meaning the city will not have to look for ways to trim the budget for the field replacement project.
The $4.38-million total budget for the project included $500,000 in contingency funding. The new estimated budget to replace the two aging fields is now expected to be $6.78 million, which includes the new grant money from Infrastructure Canada.
According to a city staff report, the cost of the project had increased due to current market conditions.
The report noted that with the grant the facility can still be delivered in the configuration previously approved by council and communicated to community stakeholders, and it could be completed within the existing timeline.
Construction is to start immediately and is expected to be completed by this fall.
The staff report said the existing sports field, Victoria’s only artificial turf field, has reached the end of its functional life.
The project will upgrade the current facility by including a full-size artificial-turf soccer pitch, youth-sized multi-purpose field, softball diamond and spectator seating.
The grant came from the $33-billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, funded by Ottawa and the province, which offers grants for projects that range from those that tackle climate change and build communities to those that give families access to modern, reliable services.
