Canada Summer Games bid committee ups its efforts
Officials will tour Niagara venues March 1
Like a runner tearing down the track, Niagara’s Canada Summer Games bid committee has cleared a bunch of hurdles — but others are fast approaching.
The next big one is March 1. That’s the day the Canada Games Council visits Niagara and tours some of the venues.
“We took a little bit of a break after submitting our bid, but now we’re getting ready for the full-day site visit and we have a number of things planned,” said Doug Hamilton, chair of the local bid committee.
“We have already submitted our agenda for the day to the bid evaluation committee, last week. Now we are organizing the troops to have everybody ready.”
The visit will start from Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls and include Brock University, the site of the athletes’ village, and Meridian Centre, where opening and closing ceremonies would take place.
Niagara’s bid committee also has March 30 circled on the calendar with a giant red mark.
That’s the day the Games council will announce the winning bid to host the Games in 2021. That will take place live at Hart House, a University of Toronto student activity centre located near Queen’s Park.
Three other Ontario regions — Ottawa, Sud bury and Kitchen erWaterloo-Cambridge—have also submitted bids to host the Games.
“We aren’t focusing on what the other communities are doing,” Hamilton said. “We are focused on our bid. We don’t get to see what their bids look like in any detail. We don’t share bid documents.
“I don’t think that is the right way to approach it anyway. We are highlighting our vision for the Games.”
We have already submitted our agenda for the day to the bid evaluation committee, last week. Now we are organizing the troops to have everybody ready.” Doug Hamilton, chair of the local bid committee
A successful bid would bring 4,800 athletes to Niagara for competition. They would compete in 17 events over 18 days and attract between 20,000 to 30,000 visitors to the area.
The bid committee estimates the event could generate more than $200 million in economic benefit, with support for 1,500 jobs.
Niagara’s bid committee has spent nearly two years and thousands of hours in planning the bid. A 200-page comprehensive bid proposal was submitted Jan. 30.
Matt Hill, director of sport and venues for the Niagara bid group, hand-delivered the submission to the Canada Games offices in Ottawa. Niagara mascots Boomer the Badger, Knightro the Knight and Gabby the Grape joined him on the trek.
Hill and his fuzzy friends submitted a bid box containing 12 copies of the proposal along with a selection of Niagara wines.
Brock University, Niagara College, Grape Growers of Ontario, Wine Council of Ontario, and Winery and Grower Alliance of Ontario have all provided letters of support for Niagara’s bid, as well as a number other local and national companies and business groups.
Also, almost 7,000 people have committed their support through the ‘I’m In’ community engagement program, Hill said.
“We’ve had a lot of people getting involved on social media and signing letters of support, and we need that to continue leading up to the site visit on March 1.”
The federal and provincial governments have already committed nearly $21 million towards the Games in Niagara, with the regional municipality adding another $10.35 million if the bid is successful.
Niagara’s local municipalities and other venue owners have also committed additional financial support for facilities and services, Hamilton said.
The next Canada Games is scheduled for Winnipeg this summer and will mark the 50th anniversary of the event. Familiar names that compete at the Games include Steve Nash, Catriona Le May Doan, Eugenie Bouchard, Russell Martin and Niagara’s own Mike Strange. Strange and Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati have their own support video on the Facebook page where they congratulate the Canada Games on its anniversary on behalf of Niagara’s 2021 bid.