Approval of a funding commitment, for what's being described as a cutting edge sports and recreation hub, received applause from the gallery in Sarnia council chambers on Monday.
The Bluewater Active Connected Community Complex would include facilities for indoor and outdoor activities, including sand volleyball, pickleball, tennis, soccer, and spaces for group gatherings and children's play.
It would be located on a 27 acre site, once a former landfill, off Michigan Avenue behind Goodwill.
Bluewater Cycling Organization Operations Manager Kendel Ross highlighted accomplishments and support the project has already received.
"We've secured a collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, we've applied to the provincial Community, Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund for up to 50 per cent of the construction cost, we have 10 acres of donated land and we've raised $120,000 in seed funding," Ross.
She said they're working with an advisory board to create a new not-for-profit organization to oversee operations, and a facility development team has been formed with representation from the cycling organization, Sarnia-Lambton Pickleball Club, Sarnia Tennis Club and Sarnia FC.
Council unanimously approved $100,000 in seed funding to complete studies outlined in the group's pre-application planning meeting with the city.
Ross said the group will return at budget time to ask for a 25 per cent commitment toward construction and an agreement to assist in the procurement of the remaining land.
City/County Councillor Chrissy McRoberts said she was 100 per cent on board with the plans.
"This is a project that we will not have to build, put staff towards and look after for the remainder of its existence and we're only going to have to pay 25 per cent, plus the $100,000... that's literally a win," McRoberts said.
City/County Councillor Brian White congratulated the group on its ability to "bypass significant concerns and bring people together."
"I've said it before, if a community group was willing to do it and yet it falls within our mandate technically to provide these services for folks -- we're able to offload that responsibility from an operations perspective, from a staffing perspective, from a capital perspective largely -- then it's a very simple yes," said White.
Councillor Adam Kilner said the project will create more opportunity for the community to stay active.
"This fits into some of the modeling that we have chosen to do in more recent years, with things like Gallery in the Grove, or Clearwater Arena... turning things into hubs," Kilner said.
Council supported a proposal from Councillor Anne Marie Gillis to use Municipal Accommodation Tax funding to support the request.