WCBL permits Cactus Rats to play in Energy City Metro Ballpark

For the first time ever, the Energy City Cactus Rats will play a baseball game in their new Spruce Grove ballpark.

Spruce Grove’s Energy City Cactus Rats are allowed to play the remainder of their home games for the 2026 season at Metro Ballpark, the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) has decided.

The board of governors voted unanimously in favour of the decision Tuesday evening, following a meeting with the club about its facility still under construction.

“Our first priority was to have them check the boxes that we outlined for them a week ago, which was basically getting the ball field to playing condition, putting trailers on site for change rooms (and) such things like that, which has all been accomplished in that short period of time,” WCBL president Kevin Kvame told reporters during a news conference Wednesday.

“The next step is to get the lights functioning in the ballpark so our game times can be moved back to the traditional seven o’clock times. Then they’re going to move onto starting to try to bring occupancy up.”

As such, Metro Ballpark will host the Okotoks Dawgs for its first game Wednesday evening, if weather allows.

Going forward, the club must submit weekly reports to the league on its progress.

Kvame called the plan giving the club “a short runway,” which the league says is best for the sake of the league, club, and fans alike.

“I really hate to speculate on what (the board) would do if these targets aren’t met. I can tell you that they were frustrated by the delays that have happened to this date… so I think the board will take it seriously, if that is the case,” the league president said.

Fans are not yet allowed to attend games. The facility’s occupancy is currently limited to 150 people, consisting of team and support staff. The City of Spruce Grove says this is necessary to prevent visitors from roaming into unsafe areas and maintain fire services access in the event of an emergency.

Fans would not have anywhere to sit even if that wasn’t the case; the stadium’s seats are currently in Edmonton, awaiting their cement foundations to be installed, Kvame said.

He added, “I’m not going to sugarcoat this and say that we expect to have fans in two weeks or four weeks or six weeks. That, in fact, could happen, but I think what we want to see is progress happening on a regular basis.”

The club could not be reached for comment.

According to Kvame, the league is also now vetting posts the Cactus Rats makes to social media to ensure messaging is “transparent and clear communications, so that the public is not misled in any fashion.”

Over time, the Cactus Rats organization will need to rebuild its relationship with the community and fans, Kvame noted.

“They’ve demonstrated over the last couple of weeks a renewed understanding that there’s a difference between honesty and marketing,” he told media.

“Steps are being made, improvements are happening, and hopefully, eventually, the trust will be rebuilt to a level that everyone can accept.”

Portable toilets have been installed for teams and staff. Teams can only access the field and dugouts.

After years of delays, work on the ballpark began in the fall of 2023 and was scheduled to be finished in June last year.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Angela Amato, Evan Kenny and Craig Ellingson