Some much-needed upgrades are coming to the Progressive Auto Sales Arena after Sarnia City Council unanimously approved an additional $170,000 in contingency funding to support a new dressing room space, Monday.
“We do have a challenge,” general manager of community services Stacey Forfar told council, referencing a lack of adequate change room spaces for young athletes — particularly women and girls.
“They’re getting opportunities to play at more elite levels, particularly on men’s teams, and right now, they’re being put into what we would describe as inappropriate spaces — either referee change rooms and other smaller closet based spaces in the building with no proper change room.
“If they get a toilet and a sink, that’s lucky,” Forfar added. “This is really struggling to program the building appropriately.”
The project involves the construction of a gender-neutral dressing room by converting the historic Sarnia Sting change room area that’s no longer in use since the team relocated to its new dressing room.
"This has now opened up the old change room area with offices, and their existing change room space in the back,” Forfar said of the estimated $700,000 project. “The proposal is for two gender neutral change room spaces — full universal access, washrooms, you name it, plus a renovation of the old, actual dressing room of the Sting space as well.
"It will provide some great overflow area,” Forfar added. “It is a great investment in this building in terms of modernization and providing those overflow spaces and will certainly open up the opportunities for programming.”
The contingency funding will only be used if needed, Forfar stressed, adding that any funding not required will be returned to the reserve.
“We know it’s an older building,” she said. “And once we start to open it up, we want to make sure there’s a buffer there to see this project completed in a timely manner this spring.”