The new $153 million recreation centre and velodrome in Edmonton’s Coronation Park is taking shape.
When it’s done, it will be the only fully-indoor triathlon training centre in North America.
The facility will be a hub for elite athletes and everyday Edmontonians.
Golden steel panels encircle the top half of the new structure, glinting in the autumn sunlight like the cycling and triathlon trophies that will one day be awarded here.
“World cups, continental championships, junior championships, and other national and international events,” said Matthew Everett of the City of Edmonton of the events that will be held there.
The city hired a cycling track specialist to design and help install the 250 metre oval, an indoor track to replace the aging outdoor one in Argyll Park.
The framing for the cycling track is already installed. At its steepest point, the turns at the end, it’s nearly 45 degrees.
It’ll be Canada’s third year-round velodrome, and the only one west of Ontario.
The rec centre is about the size of a CFL football field, and although cycling will be the star attraction, Coronation will have all the typical features: Workout space, childminding, courts for badminton and basketball, and a special space under a skylight in the middle called the social staircase.
“It will have slides, and a little bit of a climbing wall, and charging stations for phones,” Everett said.
All of it connected via pedway to the Peter Hemmingway pool next door.
The 54-year-old architectural wonder is getting some work done too.
“That facility has a geometric shape that kind of comes up and has a copper finish, which will have a stainless steel rose gold finish, which kind of mirrors that patina finish,” Everett explained.
Both the pool and the recreation centre will open at the same time.
The city says construction is on track for a grand opening sometime in 2026.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson