By this time next year, indoor soccer should have a permanent home on Rossland Road near Donald A. Wilson Secondary School.

The Town's operations committee is recommending Whitby council fund the $2.4-million project with the Whitby Iroquois Soccer Club (WISC) paying back the amount over the next 20 years.

In turn, WISC will operate and maintain the facility. Members have also provided the Town with a financial statement that says the club can pay back the sum within 15 years.

While pleased with Tuesday's recommendation, it couldn't have come sooner for executive director Bill Sidsworth, now charged with finding play space for the club's 1,200 indoor players for this season.

Previously, the club used Soccer City, the only indoor soccer centre in Whitby. But the private facility closed in April.

"We're looking at gyms, wherever we can get time," he said in an interview. "The Town is also helping us deal with the local school boards."

Space has always been a problem for the club, which sports more than 6,000 outdoor players but has watched indoor registrations decline as players move to other facilities in Durham better-equipped for indoor action.

Originally, WISC had asked Whitby to provide a location and guarantee a loan for the dome, large enough to house two indoor fields. But staff say the Town can control the architectural design, tendering and construction to municipal standards by making it a municipally-funding project.

It would also save the club in additional costs because banks would lend money to the WISC at a higher interest rate than if the Town secured the funding.

Community and Marketing Services Director Peter LeBel acknowledged this type of public-community partnership is new for Whitby.

"This approach is different but it's an opportunity for this facility to proceed on a timely basis," he said, adding there is no provision in the current 10-year capital forecast for a Town-owned indoor soccer dome.

Members of the committee applauded the plan.

"The Whitby Iroquois Soccer Club seems like one huge, happy family and to get this up is a huge step forward for the whole soccer family," said Regional Councillor Gerry Emm, moving the recommendation.

Mayor Pat Perkins said she wished the dome could have addressed the club's needs this year.

"This soccer club took the initiative a number of years ago with the (outdoor) fields at Rossland Road and Cochrane Street. They saw the wave coming," she pointed out. "Soccer City was never going to be the answer but we're trying to help in any way we can."

Over the last seven or eight years, WISC has invested thousands of dollars in lighting, paving and other upgrades at the Rossland Road Soccer Complex, said Mr. Sidsworth.

As a result, the two mini-fields and the two full-size fields are some of the best soccer facilities in the Region, he added.

The proposed dome would be accompanied by a new two-storey building housing change facilities, storage and office space for WISC.

Mr. Sidsworth, who came straight from one of this week's playoff games to Tuesday night's meeting, said he became involved with the club 11 years ago when his then three-year-old son Matthew refused to play unless his dad coached.

WISC, a well-managed club made up of a number of professionals, is more than confident it can hold up its end of the deal, he said.

Whitby council considers the recommendation Sept. 17.