Port Coquitlam breaks ground on $12.45M covered sports facility

Port Coquitlam has officially started construction on a new covered Multi-Sport Facility on Shaughnessy Street, with Mayor Brad West, MLA Mike Farnworth and city councillors turning the sod at a groundbreaking ceremony on October 5, 2026.

The venue, planned for the old mountain bike grounds on a 2.29-acre site east of the Coquitlam River, is expected to open in late 2027. Once built, it will be home largely to athletes and clubs playing lacrosse, ball hockey, basketball and pickleball.

What is being built

The facility is a covered dry rink rather than a fully enclosed arena. City engineering and public works director Josh Frederick told Freshet News the building will have roof overhangs and partial cladding to protect the playing surface from the weather, ceiling fans to circulate air and prevent moisture build-up, and HVAC systems providing ventilation, heating and cooling in the change rooms and office areas.

Built with mass timber, the year-round facility will include washrooms, change rooms, spectator seating and enhanced lighting, plus accessible pathways for pedestrians and cyclists. About 75 parking stalls will go in on the southern side of the now-vacant site, and a replacement bike park will be added later to the western side, Mayor West said.

The mass-timber approach keeps the project in step with British Columbia's push to use engineered wood in public buildings, and the partial-enclosure design is a cost-conscious middle ground between an outdoor box and a full arena.

What it costs

The project carries a $12.45-million price tag, offset by $3 million from the provincial government. Annual operating costs have not yet been calculated, Frederick said.

Why the city says it needs it

Dry-floor space is at a premium in Port Coquitlam as sports clubs grow. "We have to keep up," West said at the groundbreaking, adding that the facility will give the North Shaughnessy neighbourhood, south of Coquitlam's River Springs area, "a new life."

PoCo Saints lacrosse president Josh Wahl got emotional as he spoke about what the complex will mean. "I'm excited to make this into reality," he said before the politicians turned the sod. Ryan Clark, executive director of the PoCo Sports Alliance, praised the city for building sporting structures that draw tournaments, boost the local economy and keep PoCo residents healthy.

The sports listed for the venue tell a story about how the city plays: box lacrosse has deep roots in the Tri-Cities, ball hockey leagues run year-round, basketball demand keeps climbing, and pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the region. A covered dry floor serves all four without competing for ice time at the city's arenas.

What it means for the neighbourhood

The site sits in the city's northside, an area that has waited for recreational investment as growth concentrated downtown and along the river. West said the construction will not affect Metro Vancouver's planned water pipe under the Coquitlam River, nor Coquitlam's longstanding plans to build a bridge over the river connecting to the area.

Part of a bigger sports push

The groundbreaking came about two weeks after the city partially opened the Gates Park Sports Hub, a rebuilt multi-sport venue with a synthetic turf field, four pickleball courts and a 500-seat grandstand still under construction. Together, the two projects mark one of the largest recreation building pushes in the city's history, as Port Coquitlam works toward its stated goal of becoming a leader in sports, recreation, parks and trails in British Columbia.

The Multi-Sport Facility is expected to be complete and open to users in late 2027.

The design, in plain terms

Think of the Multi-Sport Facility as a giant roof over a playing box. The roof and partial cladding keep the rain off the surface so games and practices can run year-round, while the open sides keep construction costs well below a fully enclosed arena. Ceiling fans handle air movement across the playing surface, and only the support spaces, the change rooms and offices, get full heating and cooling systems.

It is a design other growing cities have used to add dry-floor capacity without arena-scale budgets, and at $12.45 million it lands far cheaper than an enclosed complex of similar capacity.

The timeline ahead

With the sod now turned, construction runs through 2027 toward a late-2027 opening. Between now and then, the site on Shaughnessy Street will be an active construction zone, and the city has signalled the bike park displaced by the build will return on the western side of the property at a later phase.

Once open, the venue adds a third major piece to PoCo's sports map alongside Gates Park and the Port Coquitlam Community Centre, and it gives the North Shaughnessy area its first major recreational anchor.

What clubs are saying

The reaction from the sports community has been emphatic. The PoCo Saints' Wahl called the complex a future gathering place, and the PoCo Sports Alliance's Clark framed it as economic development as much as recreation: tournaments bring visiting teams, and visiting teams book hotel rooms and restaurant tables across the Tri-Cities.