Residents and guests in Coaldale have a new place to get active.
The town held the grand opening of the new Shift Community Recreation Centre on July 3.
The facility boasts 55,000 square feet of space for different activities, including indoor squash and basketball courts, an indoor soccer/lacrosse field, a 200-metre indoor walking and running track as well as a daycare centre with inside and outside play spaces for kids.
Users can also play pickleball, volleyball and badminton. The rec centre includes space for banquets and community events as well.
Coaldale mayor Jack Van Rijn notes, that while there are different recreational amenities in the town, the new facility will offer options not currently available.
“This is something where they can come in and buy a day pass. They can come in and use any of the dry sports facilities, as long as they’re not pre-booked for something else, and with the wristband system that we have, they can come for a couple of hours, they can go home, they can have lunch, they can have an afternoon nap and they can come back again in the evening and with the wristband, they can still utilize anything in the facility,” he says.
“It’s going to become a hub for the town of Coaldale.”
Further details, including scheduling and pricing for use of the facility are available online.
The Shift Community Rec Centre is on the same grounds as another major project in the southern Alberta town. The ‘Coaldale Prairie Winds Secondary School’ will operate for students in grades seven through 12 and is set to open for the 2024-2025 school year.
READ MORE: Palliser School Division announces name of new grade 7-12 school in Coaldale
Van Rijn says construction is “about 98-99 per cent complete.”
“They’re just doing all the little finishing touches on it,” he notes.
Van Rijn adds sometime before the educational year starts, the Palliser School Division will hold a ribbon-cutting opening ceremony for the new school.
