The newly installed track at Great Lakes Secondary School (GLSS) in Sarnia is set to open for public use this month, according to the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB).
The $5.5 million facility was initially set to be open to the public in the summer of 2022 but was pushed back to late fall 2023, and now to May 2024.
The facility has been in use by GLSS since 2022 and is set to host track meets next month.
“We took a little bit of time for the school to understand and get used to the brand new asset before we made it more broadly available to the public,” said John Howitt, director of education for the LKDSB. “That time has now passed for the track.”
Residents in the area have not has access to a running track since the fall of 2021 when the construction of Bluewater Health’s helipad replaced the track near the former St. Patrick’s High School on East Street.
Work still needs to be completed on the track before it can open to the public, including the addition of bleachers for a viewing area, and installation of public access gates that will stop vehicles from entering the area, Howitt explained.
“We are looking at May for those to be installed.”
The factility — which includes a multi-sport, artificial turf sports field and eight-lane running track — is the first of its kind for the LKDSB.
“We are looking forward to hosting track events this year,” said Howitt.
Until the track is officially ready for public use, community groups are able to pay to use the facilities by booking through CLASS, an online booking system for Shared School Services.