Green light for Canada Games Park construction
Site preparation, excavation halted in early April because of COVID-19
The Canada Summer Games 2021 host committee was ready for some good news.
It camefrom the province Friday afternoon that the announcement that certain nonessential businesses can reopen Monday at 12:01 a.m.
The order includes site preparation, excavation, and services for institutional, commercial, industrial, and residential development.
“The province just expanded the essential construction projects, and our project will be able to start up,” said Doug Hamilton, the chair of the host committee.
That project is Canada Games Park, which will rise on Merrittville Highway across from Niagara Region headquarters.
When completed, it will house a large quad gym, two ice pads, a track-and-field facility, beach volleyball courts, a cycling pavilion, and parking. One of the ice pads will seat 1,200 spectators, the other 200. The gym will have an upper-level, 200metre track for walking and running in winter.
The budget for Canada Games Park, as well as a rowing facility on Henley Island for the Games, is $88 million.
The problem for the Games society is a series of unforeseen obstacles that squeezed the timelines.
The first was the change of government after the provincial election in 2018. The Conservatives took over from the Liberals and said they supported the project but immediately halted government spending until they had a look at the books.
Then the COVID-19 crisis developed.
“The province came out with two essential workplaces lists,” Hamilton said.
“We kept working when the first one came out. The second was on April 3, and we had to stop.
“At the time, we were ahead of schedule. We are still hopeful we can get that back.
“We also have other measures we can take like extra shifts and extra labour. We plan to be ready for the games.”
The host committee and the contractors, Brampton-based Aquicon Construction, have contingency plans for Canada Games Park project.
“The schedule has two parts,” Hamilton said. “The first is Games Ready. The second is Community Ready.
“The plan has always been to have the park Canada Games ready to host competitions. Athletics, which is track and field, has to be ready. Beach volleyball has to be ready.”
The second part is the Sport and Ability Centre, which will host lacrosse and wrestling. “What Games Ready means to us is all the outdoor facilities at Canada Games Park,” Hamilton said. “What community ready means is having all the equipment and fixtures in place for the community’s use like the Zamboni and the ice-making equipment, which could be done after the Games.”
Hamilton said lacrosse and wrestling could go ahead before the building is Community Ready. In the arenas, if the cement floor is in, the chilling equipment could be installed later.
Wrestling could run the same way.
“We don’t have options for track and field project — so that is our priority. In our construction contact, it is clear that the track has to be ready.”
“At the end of the day, Canada Games Park is a legacy facility to the community,” Hamilton said. “If it takes a little longer for the community to have access, we have to remember it will be there for generations to come. We can’t look at it as something that’s weeks or months late. It will be here for decades.”
The Henley Rowing Centre in Port Dalhousie will include amenities the current course lacks — training facilities, a medical room, and accessible change rooms.
The plan is to start construction in the summer.
“We are planning for it to be ready for the Games, but it has to be ready for the World Championships in 2024.
“The Canada Games will have 200 rowers and is a small event, size-wise, for our rowing community. They are world leaders in hosting regattas.”