Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault says he supports proposed plans to build an athletic dome at Lasalle Secondary School and will do everything in his power to make it happen.
In a Strategic Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Rainbow District School Board confirmed plans for a potential athletic dome on the Lasalle Secondary School property that would be a shared-use facility for the high school, the Sudbury District Secondary Schools Athletic Association and community groups through the Fabio Belli Foundation.
Fabio Belli, a Sudbury businessman and former Ward 8 Coun., died in April 2014 at the age of 37.
Belli was a big proponent for youth soccer in Sudbury, and the school board listed a foundation in his name as a key partner in the plans for an athletic dome in New Sudbury.
Thibeault said Belli was a personal friend, and said that while he has not received any requests for funding yet, he would lobby to secure capital for the project if and when he receives funding requests.
“I've said all along that I'm more than happy to advocate and to find ways, whether its through NOHFC (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation) or if it's through the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, to find the funding stream to help them with whatever proposal comes forward,” he said. “I do believe our community needs something like this.”
Thibeault said members of the Fabio Belli Foundation first approached him about the project around a year ago. He said that while the project's advocates have discussed its potential cost, they have not yet landed on any concrete numbers to build the dome.
Rainbow District School Board trustee Larry Killens told Sudbury.com trustees discussed the potential cost of the athletic dome during an in-camera meeting.
Killens said those discussions should be open to the public.
