Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

Swan City FC welcoming city council approval of new soccer dome

Feb 26, 2025 | 12:00 PM

An official with Swan City FC, Grande Prairie’s local soccer club, says it will be a great relief for his club and others to see the new sports dome go up.

Board member Derek Van Tassell says this is not just a soccer facility, but a multi recreational one.

“Some of the community members might not be aware of how long this process has been ongoing, so it’s not a rush decision by the city. They’ve, in fact, been collaborative and we’ve worked well with them over the last number of years.”

“We have actually worked well with the County (of Grande Prairie) as well to see if there is something that could be done there to revive those facilities.”

Swan City FC first brought the idea of a sports dome to city hall four years ago.

Van Tassell believes this is something Grande Prairie needs.

“If you look at other communities, they have these type of facilities and Grande Prairie (has) been growing rapidly for a long time.”

“It’s important to keep kids engaged during the winter seasons in sports and soccer, historically, has been one of the more cost-effective programs for kids.”

A delegation from Swan City FC told council that it has had to turn away 200 kids because of a lack of places to play.

“If you’re only going to build one of these things once, I think our bigger concern would be building it too small.”

“You’re better off to build it a little bigger, then it gives you other options if the utilization rates aren’t what you thought, or it gives you other options as the community continues to grow.”

Council approved buying land for a sports dome in the Trader Ridge area at Monday’s meeting.