Annis promises $555 million for Cloverdale Fairgrounds if elected

Linda Annis says her Surrey First team has a plan for the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. In an Oct. 14 news release, she said the team would invest $555 million to make the site a regional destination for sport, entertainment and shopping if elected.

The proposed projects on the 100-acre Fairgrounds parcel are a multi-sport event and aquatic centre ($350 million), a trade and exhibition centre ($150 million), a new curling rink ($37 million) and a new truck museum ($18 million). The plan would also move the rodeo indoors.

Annis said the Cloverdale Sport and Aquatic Centre would be modelled on the popular Langley Events Centre, but would have a 50-metre community and competition pool instead of an ice rink. She described the 150,000-square-foot Cloverdale Trade and Exhibition Centre as Surrey’s version of TRADEX in Abbotsford, but larger and more modern. It would also provide an indoor venue for the annual Cloverdale Rodeo.

According to the release, the curling rink would be built beside the new Sport and Ice Complex. The truck museum would move down the road to the Museum of Surrey heritage campus.

Annis said the team would work with the Cloverdale Chamber and BIA to create a themed destination in downtown Cloverdale, similar to Fort Langley or District 1881 in Chilliwack. She said it would approve projects quickly and offer tax incentives to help turn ideas into reality.

Annis said public-private partnerships, together with new commercial, hospitality and retail space along 176th Street, would help pay for the Fairgrounds projects. “It’s time to make our Fairgrounds the most unique destination in the Lower Mainland,” she said. More information about Annis and Surrey First is available at surreyfirst.org: https://surreyfirst.org/.