New Central Elgin soccer fields could cost $4.5-million

Robin Granger, president of St. Thomas Soccer, told a special joint meeting of Central Elgin and St. Thomas councils Thursday, Jan. 15, that developing the Hepburn farm on the southwest corner of Fairview and Southdale in Central Elgin would cost an estimated $4.5-million, including $2.2-million to purchase the land.

A committee that included sports group, public and council representatives felt that was the best course to follow, to make up for what’s expected to be the loss of existing soccer pitches at the now-closed Ontario Psychiatric Hospital on Sunset Road in Central Elgin, he said.

Mr. Granger said if a replacement wasn’t found for those pitches, 900 children, most from St. Thomas, would be left without fields to play on.

The Ontario government is in the process of selling the former hospital, and its future is unknown.