B.C. Lions’ revamped practice facility an investment in team camaraderie — however long it lasts

Photo courtesy: Jill Meagher/B.C. Lions

The B.C. Lions’ newly renovated practice facility is here for a good time, but perhaps not a long time.

On Tuesday, players were allowed into their new-look locker room in Surrey for the first time after a hectic four-month construction project. The reactions were priceless, as long-time veterans marvelled at the dramatic transformation spearheaded by owner Amar Doman.

“It’s awesome. I’m really excited about it,” quarterback Nathan Rourke told the media after practice. “I’ve been here since ’21, and I think we made do with what we had. It’s incredible to see the investment that Mr. Doman and (team president Duane Vienneau) are willing to put into this place and really make this feel like home.”

“It just looks clean. It looks sleek. I think it looks like a professional football locker room.”

Welcome home guys! 🏡 pic.twitter.com/8asvXwr7mE

— BC LIONS (@BCLions) June 2, 2026

The Lions’ previous accommodations fell well short of that benchmark. Originally built to suit the team’s needs nearly four decades ago, it was dark and dingy after years of use, cramped by accumulated equipment, and utterly unsuitable for anything other than getting in and out of your shoulder pads.

All of that is gone now. The walls that separated the claustrophobic locker room from the outdated player lounge and some auxiliary spaces have been ripped away in the remodel, creating an expansive, open concept space that feels larger than the sum of its previous parts.

“I prefer not to share (how much the renovations cost), but it’s significant. At the end of the day, we essentially gutted it. There’s not a lot left,” Vienneau shared, acknowledging the necessity of the investment.

“We were long known as probably having the worst facility in the league. Amar, when he first bought the team, he didn’t want to come here. He’d come in, and he’d just cringe.”

After years of conversations, the decision to change was finally made last season, with a poor CFLPA report card grade looming over the club. It represented an impressive financial commitment from Doman, especially considering that the team’s future in the building remains very much undetermined.

The franchise has repeatedly stated that its goal is to move to an entirely new facility in the near future, with these renovations serving only as a stopgap until that location can be identified. Recent infrastructure proposals in Surrey could also take the timeline of a move out of the Lions’ hands, making it entirely possible that the new upgrades will only be enjoyed for a year or two.

“We have a very good working relationship with the City of Surrey. They’ve been very forthright with us. There’s some talks about this new 10,000-seat arena, and one of the sites — and I think the preferred site, I’m not sure — is here. If that happens, we would be moving on to somewhere else, and they’ve just said, ‘Listen, we’ll look after you, we’ll figure that out,'” Vienneau revealed.

“(This renovation) is a pretty big commitment from an owner who knows you might not be here long, but said it’s important to the team. His exact words are, ‘We need to do better,’ and that’s what we tried to do.”

Temporary or not, no aspect has gone untouched in an effort to bring the facility up to the players’ expectations — and Doman’s.

There are new bathrooms and showers, plus a pair of new hot tubs and cold tubs to replace an archaic monstrosity that was built into the floor. The tented outdoor weight room, erected last year as a temporary solution, is now permanent after receiving rave reviews from athletes, who love the added space and the California feel that it provides in B.C.’s mild climate. As a result, the athletic training staff will have their own distinct room for treatment, after years of attending to injuries within arm’s reach of the bench press rack.

The locker room itself finally has, well, room for lockers, with no need for overflow even when practice rosters expand late in the season. Players have their own mini-safes for valuables and charging ports in their lockers — a modern convenience that was previously just a fantasy. A fully functional kitchen is at the centre, and the team has hired a nutrition consultant, Margaret Hughes, to work with them for the first time. Most importantly, there is plenty of comfortable seating and a ping-pong table for player entertainment.

While it may not rival the futuristic facilities unveiled by some major college football teams in recent years, it is the lap of luxury compared to what veterans had become accustomed to.

“It lifts the standards of what we’re already building,” general manager Ryan Rigmaiden said. “To have Amar be as generous as he is to come in and redo this facility, it’s absolutely amazing, because it’s going to keep the players here. It’s going to keep them happy, and it lets them know they’re not football commodities, they’re people, and we love them.”

The gesture isn’t just symbolic. The Lions believe that the renovation will have a tangible positive impact on their performance this season, not only because players will be treated better, but because they will build deeper bonds. Spending time in the old locker room or lounge wasn’t an attractive proposition, but now athletes will have the ability to play, eat, meal prep, or just sit in the La-Z-Boy chairs and get to know one another. Why leave when everything you need is in the same room as your friends?

That’s something that everyone seems to agree has immense value, including B.C.’s biggest star.

“One of the things that I always heard about places like Saskatchewan is that they had such nice facilities that it gave people a reason to stick around and watch extra film and spend extra time together and all that kind of stuff,” Rourke noted.

“I feel like Vancouver has maybe more going on than Regina, so we have more things to do. But now we have a place where people can really call home, and hopefully that will have that same kind of lure to keep people around and keep people together, and doing all the right things.”

One day in, and the plan already seems to be working. The overwhelmingly positive response from players after the unveiling saw them linger in exactly the way that was intended. That left Vienneau feeling validated after pushing through the project on a tight timeline in the same year as another massive construction project in Kelowna.

“This morning, (Mathieu) Betts was already sitting down at that chair, having his coffee right after we unveiled it,” he recounted, pointing to a barstool at the kitchen counter. “I took a picture of it and sent it to Amar, because that’s what we were trying to achieve. Where guys just don’t show up on time to have practice, they’re coming here, they’re hanging out here, they’re really just spending more time with each other, and that I think pays dividends.”

The Lions will have two more practices to enjoy the facility before breaking for their bye week. B.C. will open the 2026 season on Saturday, June 13, when they visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium.

A new era starts here.

The #BCLions unveil their new locker room.

Matt Baker takes you inside the redesigned space, built to raise the standard with a focus on player comfort, performance, and preparation. pic.twitter.com/tfKP1CnEk3

— BC LIONS (@BCLions) June 2, 2026