Niagara making its pitch for 2021 Games
Canada Games Council visit will include lunch at Brock University, trip to Meridian Centre
Niagara will put its best foot forward Wednesday when the Canada Games Council visits the region and tours some of its prime venues.
It’s something the local Summer Games committee has been working on orchestrating for months since Niagara learned it was on the shortlist to host the 2021 Games.
“We are starting the day at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls,” said Doug Hamilton, chairman of Niagara’s bid committee.
“We are inviting all the mayors and the political representatives. Then we will head over to Brock University. The committee wants to tour the village. It will give us a chance to discuss our vision of the bid with them.”
The tour will include lunch at Alfie’s Trough, Brock’s original three-storey campus pub, which overlooks the Niagara Escarpment.
“That would be the coaches’ lounge,” Hamilton said. “We will give them the experience of the villages and what the coaches would feel like at the village. Alfie’s is a beautiful location and overlooks the mountain bike course we have planned for the Games.”
After Alfie’s, the tour will head to downtown St. Catharines and three new facilities Niagara has to offer: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and Meridian Centre.
“Our cultural committee is putting together a performance that will be a small taste of what our opening and closing ceremonies will be like,” Hamilton said. “There will be a half-hour show in the performing arts centre. Then we will move into the school of performing arts where we will do a number of presentations on some of the different aspects of our bid.
“We end the trip at the Meridian Centre, which they have asked to see. We will have our closing reception there where we will have the sports community come out and show its support.”
Three other Ontario regions — Ottawa, Sudbury and Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge — have also submitted bids to host the Games. The council is visiting all four regions on consecutive days this week.
The Canada Games Council will announce its decision on which community will have won the right host the 2021 Games on March 30.
The announcement will be made live at Hart House, a University of Toronto student activity centre near Queen’s Park.
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 and 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. Events would take place in all of Niagara’s municipalities over the three-week course of the Games.
One of Niagara’s advantages is a wealth of world-class water sports venues including Welland International Flatwater Centre, the Henley Rowing course in St. Catharines and, the biggest of all, Lake Erie.
About 600 athletes at the Canada Summer Game would be participating in boating sports, rowing, canoe-kayak or sailing.
Welland and St. Catharines have hosted multiple international events at their respective centres.
Lake Erie is ideal for a sailing venue and has hosted international events such as the 2002 Laser Wold Championships and the 2008 Sunfish World Championships. The United States has also hosted its Olympic sailing trials on the lake.
Olympic medallist and world class cyclist Steve Bauer and his partner Josee Laroque are part of the bid group and have designed the courses for all four Summer Games cycling events.
Matt Hill, director of sport and venues for the Niagara bid group, said bringing the Canada Games to Niagara is more than simply hosting a sporting event.
The 200-page comprehensive bid proposal submitted to the Canada Games Council outlines an ambitious plan that will not only bring new and improved sport and recreation facilities to Niagara but will also provide a lasting legacy of infrastructure and community programs.
“It’s a community and culture event as much as it’s a sporting event,” said Hill. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase Niagara’s unique culture, sense of community and rich sporting history.”
One of the innovative programs planned for the Games is a 13 for 13 program that would match Niagara Region and its 12 lowertier municipalities with each of the 13 provinces and territories participating in the Games for a number of shared cultural events.
The plan also includes a new sport and ability centre with an accessible gym and other health and wellness facilities at Brock University, which would meet what the bid committee said is a growing demand for these facilities and programs for people in Niagara with special needs.