Expansion at MacDonald Island's Shell Place is Nearing Completion

The $127 million expansion of MacDonald Island is nearly complete. The turf installation was announced as completed by the Regional Recreation Corporation of Wood Buffalo. This turf was installed in the SMS Equipment Stadium and in the tournament centre for baseball and softball. This means, the project is not only on time, but also ready to be completed by the set deadline.

The new sports, recreation and event venue will add so much to the Fort McMurray area. With the project on track going into winter, it's likely it will finish by the scheduled deadline and open on time. This is good news for the Fort McMurray area residents.

Some of the events already scheduled to be held at the new facility include the Northern Kickoff in June of 2015. This event will be presented by Shell Albian Sands and will bring a large amount of visitors to the area.

Outdoor Work Complete, Indoor Work for the Winter

The goal was to complete the outdoor work before the winter hit and that goal has been achieved. This will allow workers to focus on the interior of Shell Place, which includes painting, finishing and getting ready for the opening of the facility.

Currently, workers are installing stadium seats because of the mild weather, which is unseasonably warm for October. Some of the social profit organizations that will be using a portion of the space may have the opportunity to actually move in early in 2015.

The expansion broke ground in 2012 and the SMS Equipment Stadium has gotten most of the attention. However, the expansion also includes a field house, social profit shared space, a badminton centre and a softball/baseball tournament centre.

The grand opening will take place in June of 2015 and the first large scale event will happen soon after. Many more events are expected to be scheduled at the facility bringing new entertainment and visitors to the Fort McMurray area.