Ground was broken Thursday on a new $46-million Active Living Centre at the University of Manitoba.
The centre on the Fort Garry campus will replace the current fitness facility (dubbed the “Gritty Grotto”). The new four-storey, open-concept facility will house a high-performance training facility for elite athletes, a state-of-the-art indoor running track, a 12-metre climbing wall, an Applied Research Centre, a gathering area for students, strength and conditioning facilities, and three group workout studios.
The eco-friendly, 100,000-square-foot building will be able to accommodate more than 2,000 patrons per day, making it the largest active living facility in Manitoba.
The federal and provincial governments are each contributing $20 million to the project, while the city contributes $2.5 million from the sale of Canad Inns Stadium site at Polo Park. The University of Manitoba will offset additional costs.
U of M president David Barnard was joined by Premier Greg Selinger, Mayor Sam Katz, and Charleswood — St. James — Assiniboia MP Steven Fletcher for the ceremony, along with former U of M Bison, and current Chicago Bears’ DL Israel Idonije.
Construction is expected to be complete by 2015.
