Chilliwack supersizes its racquet sports facility plans

A new indoor baseball facility is being planned in Chilliwack, with facilities for racquet sports and pickleball also in the works.

The $8 million-plus price tag for the racquet sports facility suggests the scope of the project has grown substantially from when it was first envisioned a couple years ago. Meanwhile, the inclusion of the baseball building--and new parks in Sards--reveal new parks plans that have yet to be announced.

You don’t necessarily need a crystal ball to see into a community’s future. Sometimes, you just have to look at the local municipality’s budget. Every year, municipalities put together huge budgets that reveal just what they hope to do over the coming year (or 10). And Chilliwack’s new budget shows that the city has set money aside for a range of new recreation projects, plus the addition of a downtown breezeway.

Earlier this week, we peeled back Langley Township’s budget to learn that a proposed soccer campus will cost $60 million more than first suggested. Today, we look at the budget for the City of Chilliwack, and its plans for a sizable new park in Sardis, racquet sport facilities, and expanded roads.

Pickleballs and squash

This could be the year Chilliwack finally builds new courts for racquet sports players. If it is, the price tag will be significantly more than envisioned a couple years ago, when the word “squash” first appeared in the city budget.

Two years ago, the city budgeted $2.5 million for a new squash facility. Since then, the ambitions for the building have increased, as have the costs. Now the facility is seen as a “racquet sports” facility that can host other sports—and the projected cost has grown to $8.6 million.

While that money is included in the city budget for the coming year, history shows that isn’t a guarantee that construction will actually start within the next 12 months. But it does suggest that when specifics are settled, the money will be there to build the thing. The facility is being paid for, in part, through gas tax money the city received from the province. (The city has considerable leeway on how it spends that money. Some of the money will go to upgrading wastewater treatment facilities.)

The city has also budgeted $2.8 million for a separate indoor pickleball facility. That project has also been in the works for more than a year. But finding a site has been a bit tricky. An initial plan to build the site in Yarrow met resistance from the community group that operated a nearby building and didn’t want weddings and other events punctuated by the sound of pickleball next door.

There’s one more big project on the short-term horizon. The budget shows the city has budgeted $4.4 million to build a new indoor baseball facility. Most of that money is allocated to the 2025 fiscal year, but $100,000 will be spent this year. Details of that project have not yet been revealed.

The Parks

When a city needs to buy land, the location of the desired properties is usually not revealed to prevent owners from gouging the city.

A “walkability analysis” of Sardis conducted for a 2020 neighbourhood plan found a paucity of parks located in the northern part of the area. That plan said the city should “prioritize the establishment of a larger neighbourhood park or urban plaza” in North Sardis near the mall sites. It said the site should be “located in an area highly visible from residences and from the street,” but also “somewhat removed from arterial traffic.”

The plan included a map that identified two general potential locations for a new park.

Chilliwack also plans to spend $805,000 improving its trail systems, $775,000 on acquiring land for another park, and $560,000 to develop “Webb Park.”

The budget also includes $425,000 for a new playground at Sardis Park, $350,000 for equipment at Townsend Park, $100,000 for a new picnic shelter at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, $65,000 for a new disc golf course, and $320,000 to develop the Vedder Greenway.

Finally, artificial turf is expensive. The city plans to replace the turf field at Townsend Park at a cost of $1.75 million over the next year. The city has also budgeted for the replacement of turf fields at Chilliwack Senior Secondary and Exhibition Field for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years, respectively.

Roads

Chilliwack will spend around $25 million on capital projects to improve a swath of roads around town.

Many of those projects will impact the most-prominent transportation corridors in town.

Roads slated for improvements include:

• Watson Road — Vedder Road to Tyson Road ($5.6 million)

• Tyson Road — South Sumas Road to Watson Road ($7.3 million)

• Keith Wilson Road — Vedder Road to Tyson Road ($2.15 million)

• Main Street ($3.2 million)

• Chilliwack River Road intersection at Knight Road ($800,000, plus $2.9 million in subsequent years)

• Prest Road — Bailey Road to McGuire Road ($1.13 million)

• Five Corners intersection ($460,000)

• Mary Street — Hodgins Avenue to Wellington Avenue ($525,000)

• Luckakuck Way — Vedder Road to Southern Rail Bridge ($2.26 million)

On the horizon, the city is planning major road improvement projects at:

• Evans Road ($5.25 million in 2025)

• Young Road —Highway 1 to Airport Road ($13.8 million in 2026 to 2029)

• Vedder Road — Knight Road to Britton Avenue ($15 million in 2030 to 2032)

• Lickman Road north ($5.2 million in 2028)

• Vedder Road — Keith Wilson Road to the Vedder Bridge ($3.3 million in 2028 and 2029)

• Keith Wilson Road — Tyson Road to Webster Road ($11.6 million from 2027 to 2030)

The city also has a long-term plan to spend $14.25 million on a rail overpass on Young Road, where ambulances, emergency vehicles and other traffic frequently must wait prolonged periods for trains to pass.

Water and waste

Chilliwack will spend around $19 million on its water system, with upgrades to its Nixon Road and Vedder Mountain wells. Over the next 10 years, it plans to spend more than $15 million upgrading its distribution main.

But nothing will cost more than sewers and wastewater. Chilliwack will spend around $50 million bolstering its wastewater and sewer system. That money will upgrade the treatment plant, activated sludge train, clarifiers, outfall pipes, sewer mains, and pump stations.

You can view Chilliwack’s entire capital plan here.