Federal, Alberta governments invest $52 million in Calgary Olympic Oval upgrade

Calgary's Olympic Oval is getting an upgrade.

The federal and provincial governments are equally splitting a $52-million contribution to the renewal of the speedskating facility built for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

The federal government also announced Monday an additional investment of $7.67 million into ski racing and snowboard facilities in Quebec, Yukon, Alberta and B.C., as well as a $3-million top-up to the Athletic Assistance Program, which provides Canada's high-performance athletes monthly cheques to help pay their bills.

"This is not just a good day for Canadian sport or speedskating in Canada. This is a good era of Canadian sport because we're making the largest investments our country has ever seen in sport from the playground to the podium, from the people and the places and everything in between that sport requires to continue being Canada's greatest nation-building project," Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden said Monday in Calgary.

"The Calgary Olympic Oval has produced an extraordinary and probably immeasurable number of Olympic medals, but also memories, heroes and beyond that, I understand you can fit more than a dozen volleyball courts in there. A lot of kids have learned how to skate here as well.

"It's a tremendously important asset to our community and our country."

The oval on the University of Calgary campus was completed in 1987 for $40 million and was the Olympic speedskating venue the following year.

It's been a community, university and high-performance athletic facility and the home of the national speedskating team for almost four decades.

Canadian speedskaters who trained there have produced 40 Olympic medals, with Catriona Le May Doan, Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes,