OneBridge Consulting Group, an international risk management consultancy, headed by Albert Zbily, a Snowdon resident, made the pitch to the EMSB during focus group hearings the board held this past May, in an attempt by the EMSB to find better ways to enroll more students.

As Zbily noted in his proposal, the existing soccer grounds are in a dilapidated state. He said the poor playing conditions pose a potential liability risk to the EMSB, as well as to the City of Côte St. Luc, since they can cause players to injure themselves by falling into ditches.

Zbily said the tennis courts and baseball fields on the grounds are no better due to a lack of regular maintenance. His proposal is that a Public Private Partnership (PPP) be set up between the City of Côte St. Luc, the EMSB, the Canadian Corporate Soccer League and private investors, to refurbish and redesign the grounds, followed by the construction of a multi-sportsplex.

Both soccer fields would be completely refurbished with artificial turf and designed to be at the competition level. The main field would be designed to offer both soccer and American football, with regulation-sized lines. The two soccer fields would also have lighting for optimal day and night usage.

The main soccer field would have a 1,000-seat capacity section on the north side of the field. The soccer fields would be covered by an inflatable, winterized bubble dome. Around the main soccer field would be a competition-level clay running track. Replacing the ageing tennis courts and some extra green space would be two official-sized clay basketball courts.

In between both soccer fields, a two-storey administrative building would be built to house the soccer administration, as well as public washrooms and changing rooms for players and other users. The second floor would have a conference room for local teams' usage.

Zbily said Côte St. Luc's strategic placement, adjacent to the Town of Montreal West and the Borough of Côte des Neiges-NDG, would enable the city to meet a rising demand for synthetically-surfaced sports facilities, and allow Côte St. Luc to create a comprehensive "sports area," since its municipal pool and gym complex are just across the street on Mackle Road.

In terms of financing, he estimates a cost of $9.1 million. He said the City of Côte St. Luc and the Government of Quebec, through its sports infrastructure subsidy program, would need to contribute half, while private investors would invest the balance. The EMSB would furnish the land and assume the cost of heating the sports dome during the winter.

As for access, the EMSB would have substantially-reduced rental fees for their soccer and football programs during school hours, as would the City of Côte St. Luc after school and during weekends, followed by the soccer league. Côte St. Luc would foot the bill for lighting.

Zbily said the private investors would collect rentals from the facilities for no less than 25 years in order to recuperate their investment. After that, the fields and sports complex would revert to a joint ownership between the EMSB and the City of Côte St. Luc.

In an e-mailed response to a phone message left at Zbily's company over the weekend by the Monitor, he said the initial cost estimates were not accurate and that the City of Côte St. Luc had not yet been approached. Asked for his reaction to the proposal, Mayor Anthony Housefather replied, "I have no details on the plan so cannot comment."