Edmonton will be home to only the third 250-m indoor velodrome in North America. On Friday, the Edmonton City Council approved funding for infrastructure projects across the city as first reported by the Edmonton Journal. Amoung the projects set to receive a significant investment is the Coronation Community Recreation Centre which will house an indoor velodrome. The $16 million commitment means the often-delayed project will finally be able to be built. The facility will be particularly attractive to triathletes including an already existing pool and running facility.

The proposal for the Coronation Community Recreation Facility has taken shape over a decade. A 2012 community needs assessment and public consultation concluded the site was suitable for such a project. Advocates lobbied to have a 250-m indoor track attached to the project but a shortfall in funding made it’s future uncertain. Funding for the velodrome unexpectedly fell through when the Alberta government withdrew support for the project and eliminated the potential for a federal grant.

The project is not yet fully funded with private and community support expected to fill in the shotfall in crash. Edmonton’s Ward 2 councillor Bev Esslinger who argued in support of the project, said fundraising cost will get a boost now with a guarantee the project is moving forward.

The Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont. and the VELO Sports Center in Carson City, California are currently the only 250-m indoor velodromes in North American sanctioned for UCI events. That is expected to change in Canada with the new Edmonton velodrome moving forward and plans in Bromont, Que, to build an indoor facility for the 250-m velodrome from the Atlanta Olympics. That project received funding in August and could be completed by the time the Edmonton track is built.

The Milton velodrome was built for the 2015 Pan American Games. Cycling Canada’s track program is based at the facility which has hosted a round of the UCI World Cup the part two years. Construction on the Edmonton Velodrome is expected to get underway in 2020.