Parents and community members are outraged after learning that a local sports complex in Hamilton is being shut down to make way for a medical cannabis operation.
Players Paradise Sports Complex Inc., which can be found near South Service Road and Dewitt Road in Stoney Creek, opened nine years ago and operates indoor soccer year-round for nearly 3,000 participants. It will officially close its doors on Oct. 31.
In a statement, the sports facility said they were purchased by a Toronto-based real estate investment firm on behalf of a company called Green Relief Inc.
Green Relief is a licenced producer of medical cannabis under Health Canada’s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.
“Players Paradise had many discussions with other groups over the years and always hoped to sell the facility to the City of Hamilton or another sports organization in order to continue programming; however, no offers were made by the desired prospects,” the statement from Players Paradise reads.
“Understanding that this leaves the question of where athletes and teams will play this upcoming season, we have reached out to each of the indoor soccer facilities in Hamilton and Burlington who all have stated they have additional training time. We have also advised our league players and teams of alternate options to consider for placement such as Wentworth Arenas, Soccer World Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Indoor Soccer league based out of Mississauga.”
City councillor Maria Pearson said she has been getting emails and calls from residents “who are just beside themselves.”
“It was a shock,” Pearson told CTV News Toronto. “Unfortunately, it’s out of the city’s control because it is a private property.”
Pearson said she was not aware of a discussion between the city and Players Paradise, adding that the facility was not advertised as public sale.
In a Facebook post, one parent said that Players Paradise was the only facility of its kind for families in the Hamilton and Niagara regions.
We found out on the weekend that Players Paradise has been sold to a cannabis grower, and that despite the fact that all the winter programming was already in the works for kids, there are only 30 days to get out. We, as a family, are devastated by this,” Laurie Petrou wrote. “To lose this one-of-a-kind facility to a cannabis growing business is a huge blow to our community, to our families, and especially to our kids. Teams and coaches are scrambling to book gyms and the like as they've been blindsided by this news. Nothing can replace the sports complex.”
Pearson said that various clubs throughout the city are working on fitting the kids previously registered for the winter programming at Players Paradise into their leagues.
-With files from CTV News Toronto's Sean Leathong
