PEI·NewCharlottetown’s new multi-sport artificial turf field is expected to be completed by the end of July 2026.City says new field at Simmons Sports Centre to be completed by springMarilee Devries · CBC News · Posted: Oct 09, 2025 6:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 31 minutes agoThe new field will be located next to Simmons Sports Centre on North River Road. (Ken Linton/CBC)Charlottetown’s new multi-sport artificial turf field is expected to be completed by the end of July 2026.The field will be built next to the Simmons Sports Centre on North River Road, and it’s been years in the making. Charlottetown council approved the approximately $3-million project this past spring.Paul Trewin, spokesperson for the Charlottetown Privateers Football Club, which has advocated for a turf field in this location, said the team is thrilled.”It provides first-class accommodations in Charlottetown. We’re the biggest municipality with 40,000 people, yet we have very limited fields to play on, especially for sports like football,” he told CBC News.Paul Trewin said the new artificial turf field will provide ‘first-class accommodations’ for Charlottetown sports teams. (Gwyneth Egan/CBC)The new field will be right next to two schools, Queen Charlotte Intermediate and Colonel Gray Senior High School, so it can be used by gym classes and school teams. Local minor sports — including soccer, field hockey and football — will also be played there. “It increases dramatically the field times,” Trewin said. “Grass fields have a limitation on how many hours they can be played on before the fields fall to disrepair. An artificial turf field, the time you can use to play on it is three times that of a grass field.”Trewin said for Charlottetown to have its own lit, artificial turf field will put it on the same level as Cornwall and Summerside.”The home field is a big thing in football. It’s your home and you protect your home. So having our own field to play on in Charlottetown, it will be a tremendous accomplishment.”Trewin said having an artificial turf field in Charlottetown will ‘dramatically increase the field times’ for the teams that use it. (Scott Neufeld/CBC)The city says it plans to choose a firm to design the field by the end of October, and construction should begin in the spring.Sports teams that use the current field at Simmons will have to find somewhere else to play while the new field is under construction. Trewin said the Privateers’ flag football team will make do. The club has been without a permanent home since its field on Longworth Avenue shut down in 2023 because its state of disrepair was causing safety concerns.“You know, we’re anxious to get onto our own field, but we’ve been pretty creative on finding places to practice and we’ll continue to do that,” he said. “It will make moving on to this field all the more exciting.”ABOUT THE AUTHORMarilee Devries is a journalist with CBC P.E.I. She has a journalism degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. She can be reached at marilee.devries@cbc.caWith files from Gwyneth Egan
Finish line in sight for Charlottetown sports teams’ new home turf
