From soccer to cycling, the indoor rec centre vision lives on

In Nathan Colquhoun’s latest column, he traces the long road to Sarnia’s long-promised indoor rec centre—from early efforts by Sarnia FC, to a city-backed study, to today’s bold proposal led by community groups. With council poised to decide on next steps, he argues it’s time to stop stalling and start supporting the people who’ve carried this vision forward for over a decade.

Back in 2014, Sarnia FC—one of the city’s largest and most active youth sports organizations—was already pushing for an indoor soccer facility. They’d partnered with the city to install artificial turf and improve outdoor fields, with the dream of indoor turf as the final phase. They weren’t asking for luxury. Just a space to train and play through the winter, like clubs in every comparable city already had.

That was over a decade ago.

In 2019, I picked up that mantle on Sarnia City Council. I launched a petition, backed by over 1,700 residents, urging the city to finally make it a priority. The goal was to move from talk to action: a feasibility study, land options, cost estimates, and partnerships. That work began, slowly. A study was funded. Public input was gathered. And in 2022, the city’s consultants came back with a strong recommendation: yes, Sarnia needs this. Yes, it can be done affordably. Yes, there is demand.

And then? It sat.

Until now.

Today, the Bluewater Cycling Organization—alongside Sarnia FC, the Pickleball Club, the Tennis Club, and others—has taken up the mantle again. They’ve pulled together a bold, community-driven proposal for a 27-acre multi-use complex. They’ve secured land. They’ve raised $120,000. They’re asking Sarnia City Council for a modest $100,000 in seed funding to finish the studies needed to unlock provincial grants and move this forward.

This is exactly what we say we want: community organizing, private fundraising, inter-club collaboration, and alignment with the city’s own long-standing recreational goals.

And yet again, we’re at a moment where it could stall. Not because it’s a bad plan. But because that’s how our bureaucracy works. Studies gather dust. Community energy fades. Staff defer to other priorities. And people—especially young people—leave town for opportunities we keep promising and never quite deliver.

This can’t be another one of those times.

In 2015, the city’s Arena Management Study made clear that Sarnia had no indoor turf, and that field sport athletes were driving to London, Woodstock, and beyond for year-round play. In 2020, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan reiterated that “indoor soccer facilities have now become a common community facility in virtually every community with over 50,000 people.” We’ve been behind for a long time.

The City Council’s role isn’t to drive every project. It’s to recognize when the community already is. That’s what’s happening here. This is a ready, organized, passionate coalition of volunteers and residents who are doing the dreaming, the planning, and even the fundraising. All they’re asking for is support.

So on Monday, I hope Sarnia City Council says yes. Not just yes to more discussion. Not just yes to more delay. But yes like you mean it.

Because in Sarnia, it’s always the community that steps up. It's Council’s job is to have their back.