Bikes are parked at the Riverside Sportsmen's Club for the 3rd annual Bob Probert Memorial Ride. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)Bikes are parked at the Riverside Sportsmen's Club for the 3rd annual Bob Probert Memorial Ride. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Windsor

Tecumseh Sportsplex To Include Cardiac Centre

A popular motorcycle benefit was the springboard for an announcement concerning a local sports facility.

A new satellite cardiac centre will be included in the town of Tecumseh's soon-to-be-built Sportsplex, thanks to proceeds from the eighth annual Bob Probert Ride, held Sunday.

The announcement was made before the ride by Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara.

Over 1,500 riders from all over North America participated in the fundraising event, raising money for cardiac services provided by Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH).

The Tecumseh facility will be the third heart centre set up by HDGH.

"To extend the current services offered into the east-end community has been one of our ambitious fundraising goals for a few years now," said Dani Probert, Bob's widow, in a statement.

HDGH already has cardiac centres in place at its west-end campus on Prince Rd., as well as the Sherk Centre in Leamington.

HDGH vice-president of external affairs Bill Marra, a motorcycle enthusiast himself, says the Tecumseh facility will make things easier for residents of that area to complete the six-month protocol in the system's cardiac wellness program.

"One of our hospital's goals has been to provide care to patients where it is most familiar and comfortable, reaching beyond the walls of the hospital," said Marra in the statement. "We are excited to achieve these goals of service excellence."

The Tecumseh Sportsplex will be a state-of-the-art complex near Tecumseh Arena, offering a walking track, a gymnasium, and a full-size artificial turf pitch ideal for soccer, baseball, football and other sports. It will also be an attractive year-round option for indoor practice space for a variety of games, as well as winter soccer.

Tecumseh Town Council voted to move the Sportsplex forward in December by hiring an architect to design it. It carries a price tag of $24-million and will be environmentally "green". The complex will also be able to hold offices and activity rooms in addition to the cardiac centre.

The motorcycle ride is named after the late hockey enforcer and Windsor native Bob Probert, a star with the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks who died suddenly of cardiac arrest in 2010.

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