Diagrams and blueprints for the project were unveiled by the university at a special consultation meeting last week before the borough council's usual monthly sitting. Only one resident, who spoke out in favour, was in attendance.

The plan calls for a soccer field, covered by an inflatable dome during the winter, to be located on the southern side of the Sherbrooke Street West site of the present sports complex, which is about 40 years old.

There would also be a 25-metre, eight-lane interior swimming pool, a double gymnasium, a running track, as well as multi-functional rooms for activities such as weightlifting, with machinery for working out.

Concordia's current sports facilities at the Loyola Campus include a hockey and skating arena, a large gymnasium, and exterior playing fields. "It's a very well-known institution and they want to improve their recreational services," says Borough Mayor Michael Applebaum.

"They want to make hours available for community usage. So that would mean that they may have programs for swimming or other types, let's say volleyball or basketball, things of that nature, where people would be able to become members and pay to have different types of activities there."

According to Applebaum, Concordia is interested in developing a partnership with Côte des Neiges-NDG, by which the borough would be able to reserve certain hours at the expanded sports complex. As it is, the borough has been buying time from Concordia for a number of years for use of the university's soccer field during the summer months.

"We will be looking at those opportunities over the next little while," he said. "We have been meeting with them, we have been talking to them, and we feel that it is a very interesting project for not only Loyola, but also for the borough, and also for many organizations that are looking for space.

"My understanding is they want to go forward for next winter season to put up the dome," Applebaum said, regarding a timeline for starting and completing the project. He said a second phase would involve replacing spectator stands alongside the football field, that now accommodate 3,000 people, with larger ones for 5,000.

The new stands would have player changing rooms, public washrooms and possibly also space for commercial concessions. "From there, depending on their financing, they would go forward with the other phases," he added. "They're asking for funding from the different levels of government … What we're doing here is we're supporting them. We think it's a great project and we are going through the authorization for the construction."