One of Canada’s largest, most ambitious and popular, year-round, community sports complexes is receiving a massive upgrade; setting itself up as a leading example for communities worldwide.

The improvements will elevate the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, in Saskatoon, to a legendary level of public amenities and extend a strong relationship with the Tarkett Sports family – FieldTurf, Beynon Sports & Playteck Enterprises. Included in the upgrade will be a conversion to premium FieldTurf surfaces (including Canada’s first outdoor FieldTurf CORE sports field); adding a winter speed skating oval that converts into a summer outdoor Beynon track by Playteck Enterprises; plus, new indoor and outdoor baseball and softball diamonds, and much more.

“Our history with the Saskatoon sports community goes back to 2005 when we first installed our playing fields at the SaskTel Soccer Centre. Over the years, this relationship has continued to grow and in 2014 we were delighted to build our first FieldTurf Revolution field at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex,” said Eric Daliere, President, Tarkett Sports. “Led by the Friends of the Bowl, this community is leveraging the combined strengths of our Tarkett family by utilizing the unique features in every product we offer; from the debut of our CORE system to the use of FieldTurf Armour to create a winter speed skating track on top of an outdoor Beynon IAAF certified athletic running track – this is a dream project for us.”

Strong community support spearheaded by the visionary leaders of the Friends of the Bowl has experienced significant financial donations from multiple donors and has been encouraged by a supportive Saskatoon City Council.

“Whereas our Mission with the ‘Friends of the Bowl’ is to improve all sporting facilities within the Gordie Howe Sports Complex for the benefit of all citizens of Saskatoon, we are thrilled to be partnering with FieldTurf, Beynon Sports, Playteck Enterprises and its various product lines to ensure that we have the very best of sports surfaces in all areas to be used by all for many years to come,” stated Bryan Kostersoski, Chairperson.

In total, multiple sporting activities will be featured at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, including football (tackle, flag and touch), soccer, softball, baseball, speed skating, cross-country skiing, track and field, ultimate frisbee, hockey, rugby and lacrosse.

Upgrading the existing facilities at the complex will continue to allow the hosting of future national and international sports championships, now in even more activities than ever before.

Details of newly added features include:

• Canada’s first outdoor FieldTurf CORE system. The world’s first multi-layer, dual-polymer turf fiber will debut at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.
• New, indoor, 60,000 square foot multi-sport training center featuring Beynon Sports PolyTurf flooring for weightlifting spaces and general areas, plus indoor FieldTurf fields for softball/baseball infield diamonds.
• New Beynon Sports BSS 2000 track and field surface built to Class II IAAF certification standards will be one of the largest and most prestigious athletic facilities across Canada. This unique, 400-meter track with all associated field events as well, will convert to a speed skating oval for use by the skating community throughout the winter months.
• Two all-weather, year-round, outdoor FieldTurf baseball infields.
• Batting cages, both indoor and outdoor.

The complex was originally created as part of an existing city park and renamed and expanded to honor “Mr. Hockey”, the legendary Gordie Howe, a native son of Saskatoon. From 1946 to 1980, Howe played twenty-six seasons in the National Hockey League and six seasons in the World Hockey Association; his first 25 seasons were spent with the Detroit Red Wings. The support of the Howe family with this city complex continues to this day. Construction on the new additions to the complex begin in April and scheduled for completion by late 2018.