The town of Petrolia could be home to a new all-season sports complex.
At Monday night's town council meeting, a group led by 16-year-old Matt Mueller pitched the idea of raising $2.2 million to be put toward such a facility.
The proposed multi-sports centre would include three tennis and pickleball courts, a computer-generated golf range, a soccer field and a fully accessible track.
Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley said the group has town council's full support.
"What they basically asked for was some land over by the Petrolia YMCA, and council agreed to give them the land, in principle, and gave them permission to continue on to try and raise the $2.2 million," he said.
The concept includes a non-permanent building with removable walls and geothermal heating, which would allow the facility to stay open year-round.
Mueller, an LCCVI student with aspirations of earning a tennis scholarship in the US, previously raised $24,000 in 2014 to help improve the Mary Beach tennis courts in Petrolia.
He said council's approval of the project means his group is one step closer to its goal.
"The next step for us is to apply for the Seed Grant from the Trillium Foundation, which is due February 4. So we'll be getting that done and sending it off, then hopefully we'll start fundraising."
Mueller said the grant money would be used to conduct a feasibility study, which would look at program design, marketing data and financial forecasts for the sports complex.
Mayor Loosley said it was very impressive to see such young individuals pitch this idea, and he encourages others to follow suit.
"We're really pleased to see young people come with a proposal like that rather than coming and just saying 'oh, we want to ask for all of this money to go towards something,'" said Loosley. "Here's a young individual with a group saying 'we just want you to approve, in principle, for the land by the community centre, and we will raise this much money to go towards this project.'"
The fundraising campaign is estimated to take two years, and if the group is not successful, the funds will be used for other local recreational activities.
