Rocky Ridge Athletic Park construction begins with $25.1M investment

Amir Said · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 4:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

A caller diversion analyzable successful northwest Calgary is 1 measurement person to becoming a reality.

Construction has begun connected the Rocky Ridge Athletic Park arsenic portion of a $25.1-million concern in the city's recreational sports scene, the metropolis announced Monday.

The parkland is slated to see 2 competition-sized turf sports fields, successful summation to dedicated parking, tract lighting, washrooms and landscaping. 

The improvement is designed to improve access to recreation successful Calgary's northwest communities.

"The Rocky Ridge Athletic Park is simply a wide illustration of however we are readying for maturation and responding to the needs of our communities," said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek successful a media release. "It's a astute and indispensable measurement for the aboriginal of Calgary, ensuring we make high-quality spaces wherever families, athletes and assemblage groups tin travel together, enactment active and thrive." 

The diversion parkland is located crossed from the Shane Homes YMCA astatine Rocky Ridge, which held the rubric of world's largest YMCA installation upon its opening successful 2018 earlier being usurped by Calgary's Brookfield Residential YMCA astatine Seton the pursuing year.

The announcement comes good implicit a decennary aft the project's archetypal support by metropolis assembly successful 2012. It was 1 of 5 projects nether the city's revised superior concern strategy approved successful 2021.

The diversion analyzable is acceptable to see a determination tract location alongside the facility's diversion park, with the tract location expected to beryllium designed and constructed erstwhile further backing becomes available, according to the city.

• Peek wrong the world's largest YMCA, precocious opened successful Calgary's Rocky Ridge neighbourhood

The Rocky Ridge Athletic Park is expected to beryllium completed by autumn 2026.

Construction of the diversion parkland is portion of the city's "GamePlan" nationalist recreation strategy, which aims to physique 43 diversion parkland fields for a full of 89 crossed Calgary by 2050. 

The Rocky Ridge Athletic Park volition connection year-round recreation opportunities upon its completion, and volition beryllium disposable for bookings done the aforesaid booking strategy for accessing different diversion parks operated by the city.

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"The request for much shot fields successful this metropolis has been large and clear," said Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp. "We've heard from families, from section shot clubs, and from young players who conscionable privation the accidental to practise and vie adjacent to home. This parkland is our answer. These caller fields volition straight code the shortage of disposable abstraction successful Ward 1 and citywide, giving our increasing northwest communities the prime facilities they've been asking for."

The task is expected to make 100 full-time equivalent jobs and lend $11 cardinal to the city's GDP, according to projections by Infrastructure Calgary's economical interaction appraisal model.