'Malahide Athletic Centre': Group bringing $7.5M year-round indoor sports facility to rural Elgin County

In the small hamlet of Mount Salem, Ont. is a group with a big vision.

Parents, coaches and business people are working toward building an indoor, multi-use sports dome.

“The dream of this is to make sports recreation accessible to everyone in these rural areas,” said Albert Loewen, a board member of the Malahide Athletic Centre (MAC) Committee. “A lot of kids don't actually have the opportunity to play.”

The MAC would be located at 6576 Springfield Rd. in Malahide Township.

Partnering with the Mount Salem Community Church, and a new school that is being constructed next door, it gives the MAC an opportunity to share the property and the parking.

The non-profit facility is being designed by Baribeau Construction — that company built the BMO Centre in London and the Flight Exec Centre in Dorchester. It projects to have a large turf area, three full size hardwood courts, and a fieldhouse for sports like dance or karate.

A field behind the Mount Salem Church will be the future home of the Malahide Athletic Centre. It will feature three hardwood courts and a large turf area. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

“Building a facility in this location seems could seem odd to some people because it's not in a built up urban area,” said Patrick Stanat, a MAC board member.

He added, “There's barriers for people in rural areas and we really wanted to provide a facility and also vision on a facility that would allow other people in rural communities across Ontario and across Canada to look at something and say, ‘Hey, we can do something like that too.’”

Many young boys from the Aylmer, Malahide and Bayham area need their parents to drive more than an hour each way to use indoor facilities in London.

“I used to have to drive all the way to London just to play ball during the winter,” said Holden Kennedy, who plays U13 baseball in Aylmer. “Winter is a slow time for baseball so it’s hard to put practice in so it’d be great to have the Malahide Athletic Centre.”

In the winter, youth from rural Elgin County have to travel long distances to St. Thomas or London, Ont. to use an indoor facility. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

His friend Kolbie McCurdy, 12, is from Vienna, and it’s a much farther commute.

“I play in Aylmer and it’s a 30 minute drive just to Aylmer, so it’d be nice to have something like this,” said McCurdy.

The team behind the MAC is focused, and motivated by three realities.

They stress there are only four indoor facilities offering year-round recreation within a 200 kilometre radius of Elgin County. There has been an increased risk of mental health of youth and adults, especially after the pandemic, and building a legacy.

“I was able to enjoy sports as a kid and all those facilities were built by our parents and our community groups,” said Stanat. “They were people who decided to make change in their community. We feel like it's time for our generation to step up and to be able to provide something not just for our kids, but for the kids that are going to come after our kids.”

Board members (L-R) Patrick Stanat, Albert Loewen, and Paul Leeking, along with volunteer Chris Cox, stand on the future home of the Malahide Athletic Centre. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

They also plan on paying for the entire facility up front without borrowing money in order to make the MAC affordable. The goal is to have it be just $5 per person to use the facility.

To date, the board has been able to raise $1.8 million of their $7.5 million goal.

They are using unique fundraising plans, including the ‘Join Team 1000’ plan.

“The community has been incredibly receptive,” said Loewen. “We hired a firm to help us develop a formal business plan case for support to kind of give evidence to what we're saying. You can say, but we want to be able to prove it.”

They’ve been reaching out to residents in the area, but the board is about to make a major fundraising push in the coming months, with a goal of starting construction in 2024.