Transcona Stadium undergoing major facelift

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This article was published 26/07/2017 (3177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the Red River Valley Sports League season a wrap, the Transcona Stadium is undergoing some much-needed renovations.

“It’s an iconic facility we’ve used for years and year,” said Dan Cox, president of the Red River Valley Sports League, which organizes youth baseball for northeast Winnipeg, East St. Paul, Selkirk, and the RM of Springfield. “Generations of kids have used that facility for many years. I grew up playing on it. It’s great to see its revitalization.”

“This will renew that whole area,” said Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona). “It’ll basically be a brand-new stadium.”

Visitors to the new Transcona Aquatic Park may have noticed work on the new stadium bleachers has been underway for some time. Outfield fencing was replaced during construction of the new water park. Up next is the replacement of foul line and backstop fencing, new infield mix, and new dugouts. Funding for these improvements, to the tune of $93,000 comes from Transcona’s land dedication reserve.

In addition, $34,956.97 is being put towards renovating an outbuilding at the Transcona Stadium. The old outdoor washroom building will be converted to a storage shed for the use of the Red River Valley Sports League.

“That will be not just fielding equipment, but also storage for jerseys, all that equipment we need for our baseball teams,” Cox said.

The iconic Transcona Stadium scoreboard building is also up for a facelift. This $52,000 reno is being jointly funded by the City of Winnipeg and the Red River Valley Sports League.

“With everything the City and councillor Wyatt are doing for that facility, we took on that one aspect, the scoreboard building,” Cox said, adding the RRVSL will be redoing the roof, adding new lighting and replacing the electrical, and revamping the iconic sign. “The building, too, will be used an umpire room, and canteen during special events. It not only has its iconic features, but it’s also a very useful structure as well.”

At a June 13 meeting of the East Kildonan-Transcona Community Committee, Cox said that 830 kids aged four to 18 registered with Red River Valley last season. Nearly half those kids were from northeast Winnipeg. Transcona Stadium, Cox said, was one of only two City-owned ball diamonds in the area that can accommodate the dimensions needed for older age groups (14 to 16, and 16 to 18). The other is next to the Terry Sawchuk Arena (901 Kimberly Ave.). As a result, five area teams used the two diamonds as home field this past season.

“It’s vital field for our league that the kids rely on,” Cox said. “We’re doing this because it’s an homage to the folks who’ve taken care of that field for 30-plus years. For us, it’s a great thing, and we’re real proud to be working with City to revitalize it. It will be a gorgeous facility.”

Upgrades to Transcona Stadium are expected to be complete in time for the 2018 baseball season.

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