Work underway at indoor turf facility site in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Preliminary work at Chapples Park has begun as the City of Thunder Bay moves forward with the early stages of its new indoor turf facility project.

Gerry Broere, the city's director of asset management, said the work currently happening at the site is "minimal," given the overall project is still in its very-early stages.

"There will be some survey going on, there will be some holes being drilled just to see what the foundation might look like for the facility," Broere said."The majority of the actual, physical work won't happen until after it's tendered."

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Broere said the city is working on the tender documents now, and the goal is to release a request for proposal in the next couple of weeks.

That process will lead to the hiring of a consultant, who will manage the project itself as it moves forward.

"Typically, we leave about a months' time for proponents to respond," Broere said. "At that point, we would be going back to council to award that work."

"Once that starts, then it's just a matter of our internal processes and the time it takes to develop a design," he said.

Thunder Bay City Council approved the $30-million project in principle on Monday.

Broere said the hope is that actual construction will start in August 2020, and the facility would be complete by November 2021.