Airdrie's Next Rec Centre Opens All At Once. First, Edmonton Has To Say Yes.

Every municipal sheet of ice in Airdrie today sits on the east side of the city. There are five of them, at three addresses: two at Genesis Place on East Lake Boulevard NE, two at Ron Ebbesen Twin Arena on East Lake Crescent NE, and one at Plainsmen Arena on Centre Avenue E. Genesis Place is also where the city's pool, fieldhouse and main fitness centre are.

The six renderings the City released on Oct. 20 show the building meant to change that. The Southwest Recreation Centre is planned for the southwest corner of Airdrie. It would add three ice sheets, two lap pools, a turf fieldhouse and an indoor track. Since a council vote in July, it is also planned to open as one complete facility in the second quarter of 2030 rather than in stages. Whether that date holds depends mostly on one approval from the province, which the City expects before the end of 2026.

Where it goes

The City bought the land in 2018. It's a parcel at the corner of Southwinds Boulevard and Southwinds Drive. DiscoverAirdrie's July coverage of the schematic design puts the site at 29.5 acres. The site plan includes a proposed roundabout entrance and a right-in, right-out access from 24 Street SW.

If you drive in that part of town, you've already met the road work around it. The City's road closures page lists 24 Street SW between Cobblestone Coll and Southwinds Drive as local traffic only until Sept. 30, 2027, for new road construction. That's the same stretch the rec centre will use for one of its entrances, and the closure is scheduled to run until a few months after building construction is due to start.

What the renderings actually show

The Oct. 20 images cover the exterior, the pool entrance, the swimming pool, the arena, the fitness centre and the gymnasium. The City says the design will keep being refined over the coming months. Current work covers details like lockers, lighting, door widths and electrical outlets.

Here's what the schematic design council endorsed on July 7 includes:

• Aquatics: a 10-lane, 25-metre lap pool and a four-lane, 25-metre lap pool, plus a zero-beach and aqua-play area, a lazy river, a waterslide, a whirlpool, a cold plunge and a steam room
• Ice: a 750-seat feature arena that can also be used as a dry floor when there's no ice, plus two 250-seat community arenas
• Fieldhouse: a large turf surface that can be set up for 11v11, 9v9 or 7v7 play, with seating for up to 600, eight team rooms and two referee rooms
• Gym and fitness: a double gymnasium with a dividing curtain, cardio, strength, free-weight and stretching areas, two movement studios, a spin studio and a three-lane sprint and sled track

The design also says the pools could host competitive swimming, water polo, synchro and diving. The final list of activities will be set in a later stage.

What it changes for ice in Airdrie

The arena numbers stand out most when you put them next to what the city has now.

Five sheets would become eight. The biggest seating bowl in town would go from 404 seats at Ron Ebbesen's Blue ice to 750.

That bigger bowl answers something sport groups have been asking for. The City's arena analysis, reviewed by council on Feb. 5, 2024, found Airdrie's ice supply was enough for the demand at that time by several standard measures. It also found the city would need two more sheets by 2035 to keep the same level of service, or three if growth ran faster than expected. Ice groups said their allocated hours were starting to limit how much they could grow. Some were already renting ice elsewhere in the region, and many named the limited ability to host tournaments as a top issue. The new building plans for three sheets, the higher of those two estimates.

Spring 2026 showed how little spare ice there is now. On March 16, an ammonia leak in the ice plant's condensing tower took both Genesis Place sheets offline. The City said they would be out for at least three weeks while it moved bookings to other City and partner facilities. One equipment failure took out two of the city's five sheets.

Why the City decided to open it all at once

Until this summer, the plan was to open the building in three phases. Aquatics and fitness would come first, then the arenas, then the fieldhouse and gymnasium, spread over several years. On July 7, council approved building every part at once, so the full facility would open together.

The City gave its reasons in that release. Building in a single phase shortens total construction time and is estimated to save about 6.4 to 8.6 per cent on construction costs. The original phasing was meant to keep tax impacts low during construction and the early years of operation. The City said updated financial modelling, plus a newly adopted Community Facilities Off-Site Levy that charges growth-related costs to new development, made the faster timeline workable. The City expects the project's annual tax impact to stay at or below two per cent, with its Tax Stabilization Reserve used to spread costs over time.

Aimee Johnston, Airdrie's Manager of Recreation Services, explained the reasoning in the same release:

"Residents and sport groups have consistently told us there is strong demand for more recreation space in Airdrie. Delivering the full facility sooner will help relieve pressure on existing programs and amenities, expand access and create more opportunities for people to participate in recreation across the community."

The July plan added one more thing: a public indoor running track above the gymnasium. It sits outside the facility's controlled access point. DiscoverAirdrie reported that council heard the track is meant to be open for public walking without a fee, including during the day. The schematic report lists it as a three-lane track. Its exact length wasn't available when a councillor asked at the meeting. Once it opens, that would be the only indoor space in the building you could use without paying admission.

The steps between now and 2030

Building everything together means every amenity depends on the same schedule. Here's the order of steps in the City's latest update, as DiscoverAirdrie reported on Oct. 21:

1. Provincial debt-limit approval. Airdrie needs Alberta Municipal Affairs to raise its borrowing limit. Administration has started talks with the province and expects a decision by the end of 2026.
2. A council borrowing bylaw. The project also needs council to approve a borrowing bylaw. Construction tenders can't go out until the borrowing capacity is confirmed.
3. Tenders and procurement in early 2027. The project manager, Colliers Project Leaders, warns that delays at this stage could affect the overall schedule and expose the project to higher construction costs.
4. Construction starts in Q2 2027.
5. Completion in Q1 2030 and public opening in Q2 2030. The gap between the two allows time for staff training and systems testing.

Colliers rates the project's scope and budget as low risk and the schedule as moderate risk. Those ratings haven't changed since the last report. The risks it lists include U.S. tariffs, construction market swings, supply chain pressure, possible permit delays, and demand for structural steel. The City says the project is within its council-approved budget, with no material changes to scope recommended. The current cost estimate isn't public while procurement is being prepared.

One decision you'll hear about next month

One part of the building is still being decided. The City's Pick the Play Experience engagement asked residents to choose between two layouts for the indoor family activity zone. One puts more weight on climbing and the other on indoor play structures. Both include an auto-belay climbing wall and a basketball half-court. The City says the two options cost about the same, so the choice won't change the overall budget. Feedback closed Oct. 1, and the City says it will share results later this fall.

Until then, the city's indoor pool, fieldhouse and main fitness centre are all at Genesis Place, 800 East Lake Boulevard NE. Its listed hours are 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. The next real milestone is the province's answer on borrowing, which the City expects by the end of 2026.

I've been helping people buy and sell in Airdrie since 2005. If you live near Southwinds and want to talk through what the construction schedule and the 2030 opening could mean for your street, Trenton Pittner is happy to walk you through it calmly, one step at a time. Let's Connect.