40,000 square-foot indoor facility for baseball, softball, cricket plans to open next year

A new indoor facility for baseball, softball and cricket is being planned for a 2027 opening in Manitoba.

The privately funded, 40,000 square-foot facility will be located near McGillivray Boulevard just west of McCreary Road, according to Jonathan Ali, who will oversee its operations. The cost to build the facility was not disclosed, but Ali said it is a multi-million dollar project.

“It’s definitely needed,” said Ali.

“We have limited access to indoor facilities here, there are some amazing facilities ... that exist right now, but we just have so many athletes and from high performance to grassroots, between baseball, softball and cricket, it’s just going to provide opportunities to train year-round.”

Ali is currently the operations director of the Home Run Sports Training Centre located on King Edward Street in Winnipeg. That facility is just over 10,000 square feet right now and has four batting cages and an open turf area, said Ali.

When the training centre is in its busy season — from November to when outdoor baseball starts — Ali said “we just run out of space,” and the centre isn't able to service the amount of people and associations that want or need access.

Eventually, the plan is to move the training centre’s operations to the new facility and rebrand with a new name.

“So this is going to help fill that hole and allow us to expand programming, but also allows us to service people recreationally,” he said.

In the past year, Matt Tallman has come on board with the organization, Ali said. Tallman, of H. Tallman International — the Tallman family-owned company that runs Princess Auto — also has another business venture in Trans Canada Brewing Company on Kenaston Boulevard.

“He’s a massive supporter of baseball and softball in the community and has done some amazing things already,” said Ali. “I think just having him believe in this project and be involved in this project has opened up some opportunities for us to expand.”

He said one of the highlights planned for the new facility is an “indoor fieldhouse” area, which Ali said will have a full 150 foot by 150 foot infield where games at the under nine, 11 and 13-year old age group games could be played.

“This is in line, I would say, with the top facilities in the country,” said Ali. “I would say most provinces, if not all provinces, have something along this line and this style of facility with a full infield, plus [batting] cages.”

Baseball continuing to grow in Manitoba

Baseball Manitoba executive director Jason Miller said the facility is a long time coming, echoing Ali that other provinces already have a similar facility.

Miller said besides indoor training facilities like the Home Run Sports Training Centre, baseball teams and associations primarily use indoor soccer facilities. Those spaces aren’t built to support baseball, he said.

“We have to significantly modify our practices and our evaluations to suit the soccer space," he said.

Baseball is also continuing to grow in Manitoba, said Miller.

“We’ve had between two and five per cent growth annually since the pandemic, and this year we’re up near 10 per cent,” he said.

“We have 12,000 kids playing baseball in Manitoba, which is super exciting.”

Miller said he has “no doubt” the increase this year was influenced by the Toronto Blue Jays' run to the World Series.

“It’s 12 to 1,500 more baseball players this year,” said Miller. “I have no doubt that’s a direct result of the Blue Jays' success.”

Ali said he expects shovels to be in the ground “in the next few weeks.” More information will be shared as construction continues and the new brand identity comes into focus, he said.

“It has been a dream of mine for as long as I started in this game, to be able to bring to Manitoba a world-class facility,” he said.

“That's what we get to do, and it's exciting.”

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