Tecumseh council is unanimously backing CS&P Architects to handle the detailed design of the town's $24-million multi-use sportsplex.
The budget is being set at $400,000 for the first phase of architecture work.
Mayor Gary McNamara says a number of public input sessions have already been held to help shape the design of the facility.
"What we're going to be able to share with them is all of your ideas that you've brought to the table to date, here it is," says McNamara.
A total of $1.390-million is being committed to architecture services on the multi-million dollar project.
Initial concepts for the sportsplex include a full-sized artificial turf field for soccer, baseball, football and golf along with a new walking trail, gym and additional programming space.
McNamara says this is a major step forwards for the project.
"We're pretty excited because it gets us that one step closer to realizing a project that's been on the books for about four years now and so we're getting very close," says McNamara.
He thinks Tecumseh's facility will help supplement amenities offered at nearby recreation centres like the WFCU Centre in Windsor and the Atlas Tube Centre in Lakeshore.
"This one here is basically a non-competitive type piece that is not only going to be a centrepiece for us here in Tecumseh but, also regionally," says McNamara
As the mayor sees it, the sportsplex will offer a number of new opportunities for young athletes in the region.
"2026 we got the [FIFA] World Cup coming to Canada — a great opportunity to showcase a lot of talent between now and 2026," says McNamara. "You know, we're going to try to take as much advantage as we can, especially with sports tourism."
A second phase of architecture work still needs to be contracted out which would include construction documents for the bidding phase.