XVII PanAmerican Games - Toronto 2015

[Jim856796]

Ivor Wynne Stadium should not be saved at all. I am opposed to the new renovation plan for that stadium. I still think it needs demolition and a new stadium (with a different design than previously proposed) built elsewhere in Hamilton.

[current]

They wanted to build a new stadium in a different location but Hamilton could not agree on where that should be, so Ivor Wynne Stadium will now be renovated. Toronto Star article:

Hamilton to Host Pan Am 2015 Soccer

Paul Moloney
Urban Affairs Reporter

A refurbished Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton will be the main soccer venue for the 2015 Pan Am Games while continuing to be the home of the CFL’s Tiger-Cats.

Friday’s announcement is a loss for Mississauga, Brampton and Markham, who were interested in hosting soccer if Hamilton didn’t pan out...

...The Games have budgeted $152 million for renovations to the stadium, built in 1930 to host the British Empire Games, and will now seek bids from contractors...

To Read More: http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer...am-2015-soccer

[koolio]

Where will athletic events be held then?

[OEincorparated]

I think it's just the one studium in Hamilton getting all the events.

[current]

Where will athletic events be held then?

The stadium in Hamilton will only be used for soccer and the track events will be held at York University:

...Included in the new capital costs are as much as $1.6 million, to be financed with a loan, for upgrades to the city-operated track at York University. York won the right to host Pan Am track events, at a new stadium to be built, after plans to hold the events in Hamilton fell apart...

http://www.thestar.com/sports/panamg...osts-to-double

The Tiger-Cats wanted an intimate stadium with the field close to the stands. They did not want a track installed because it would ruin the intimacy by moving the field far away from the stands.

[OEincorparated]

Oh Wow, track and field at York. Which track will they be using, are they planning on installing stands?

[current]

OEincorparated, because of the problems last summer York U got the track and field events. CBC online article:

Pan Am Games Track Goes to York U

Last Updated: Monday, August 23, 2010 | 7:03 PM ET
CBC News


The marquee track and field events at the 2015 Pan Am Games will be held at York University.

The university said in a news release on Monday that it is currently in "discussions with organizers regarding the construction of a stadium on its Keele campus that would host track and field events during the Games."

York will pay 44 per cent of the stadium's cost. The rest of the money will come from the provincial and federal governments.

"We are thrilled about this development, as it is a tremendous opportunity for York University, as well as the broader community," said York University president Mamdouh Shoukri.

York also said on Monday the stadium will be the host of the rugby tournament during the Games, as well as the tennis competition, which had been previously announced.

The stadium will hold 10,000 people with 5,000 permanent and 5,000 temporary seats...


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/sto...#ixzz1F2Qqm2GA


From York U web site:
Infrastructure Ontario Issues RFQ for Three Pan Am Games Venues

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) has released a call for companies to submit their qualifications to design, build and finance three Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games projects, wrote The Daily Commercial News Feb. 17.

The request for qualifications bundle is composed of two stadiums and a velodrome project. A 5,000-seat stadium at York University’s Keele campus in Toronto will be used as the athletics venue.

Read More: http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/in...%20the%20Media

From the Canadian Newswire web site:

...The RFQ bundle is comprised of two stadia and a velodrome project:

•The proposed Ivor Wynne Stadium will be one of the four host venues for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games' soccer competition.
•The proposed velodrome in Hamilton will host the track cycling competition at the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.
•The proposed York University stadium will be used as the athletics venue for the Games...

...The Pan/Parapan American Games is one of the world's largest international multi-sport events, held every four years for athletes of the 42 member nations of the Pan American Sport Organization (PASO). The Games comprise a mix of Summer Olympic Games sports, as well as traditional Pan American sports. The Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games will draw 10,000 athletes and officials and feature 48 sports in 17 municipalities across the Golden Horseshoe. The Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games will take place July 10 to 26, 2015 and the Parapan Games August 7 to 14, 2015...

Read More: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../09/c9274.html

[Taller, Better]

Does downtown Toronto get anything?

[koolio]

Thanks current. For some reason I completely forgot about the track events being held at York. I still think the soccer games should have been held there and the track events should have been in Hamilton.

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Does downtown Toronto get anything?

Just the Athlete's village, so just more condos. That's it. All the good public amenities go elsewhere.

[koolio]

Not sure what you guys were expecting. Toronto obviously does not need a new soccer stadium or a track and field stadium. Maybe a velodrome that Hamilton is getting would have been cool.

[Taller, Better]

Toronto certainly does need new facilities for swimming, and indoor court space for sports such as volleyball, etc.. I think in this case the squeaking wheels got the provincial government grease.

I'm terrified that the Athlete's Village is going to become another white elephant like the money pit built for the Winter Olympics.

[Tuscani01]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Toronto certainly does need new facilities for swimming, and indoor court space for sports such as volleyball, etc.. I think in this case the squeaking wheels got the provincial government grease.

I'm terrified that the Athlete's Village is going to become another white elephant like the money pit built for the Winter Olympics.

Toronto wanted no part in it anyway, so its Toronto's fault. All other municipalities were willing to put cash on the table to build facilities and Toronto laid back while everyone else jumped in. IIRC, the bid also started as a 905 bid. Toronto came on board toward the end of the process.

That being said, Toronto does have most of the sporting events, including hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, and housing the athletes, which will give us way more than another soccer/football stadium or another swimming pool would. The only reason the Vancouver Athletes Village is a white elephant is because of the world's financial situation. The athletes village is a beautiful community and will definitely be a vibrant neighbourhood once it starts filling in.

Heres the link to the venue map:
http://www.toronto2015.org/lang/en/t...enue-plan.html

[koolio]

Agreed with Tuscani. Mississauga actually showed tremendous interest in hosting more events and building a soccer or track & field stadium but it got shut down on both occasions. The only event being held in Mississauga is wrestling or fencing and that is being held in the already existent Hershey Centre.

[taal]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Toronto certainly does need new facilities for swimming, and indoor court space for sports such as volleyball, etc.. I think in this case the squeaking wheels got the provincial government grease.

I'm terrified that the Athlete's Village is going to become another white elephant like the money pit built for the Winter Olympics.

I made this post on UT regarding the Vancouver village, thought I'd share it / particularly the pictures. For all the controversy it really turned out into an amazing space - which indeed likely cost Vancouver and Canada as a whole bundles of money and it's pretty clear very little will be recouped. Having said that, again, check out the pictures!

Vancouver athletes village.

There's a lot of controversy surrounding these; The majority 70%+ is still for sale even in this relatively hot market. The key issue was price, to recoup the cost they were pricing the units at outrageous prices (at least that's what I've been told). Now, prices have nearly been cut in half and there's interest.

Clearly this will be a huge loss to Vancouver (and the rest of Canada) from a financial point of view. There's rumors that all the low income housing have been scrapped just so they can recoup more of their costs - and the money from other sources were justified partly due to the inclusion of the low income housing ... so I think we'll hear a lot more rumblings in the coming years.

Now, for all the negative, how did the development turn out ? I can't say for sure but 'amazing' comes to mind from the following pictures curtsy of SSP ... what do you all think ? Are there any hopes our pan am village will be anything close to this. I think village in Toronto will actually be larger! But I doubt we'll see this quality:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=139393&page=7

[current]

It looks like there will be no Women's World Cup games in Toronto in 2015. National Post article:

Toronto Won’t Host Any World Cup Games
Mark Masters March 3, 2011 – 11:29 pm

The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup is coming to Canada, but the country’s largest city will not be hosting any games.

Toronto and the surrounding region will host the Pan-Am Games in the summer of 2015, and it appears city officials do not want to have two international sporting events in the area in such a short period of time.

“The World Cup will happen about three weeks to a month before the Pan-Am Games and there were some in Toronto that really wanted to focus their attention on the Pan-Ams as opposed to getting wrapped up in both events,” said Gary Lunn, the federal Minister of State for Sport.

FIFA announced Canada had won the right to host the World Cup during a ceremony Thursday. Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Moncton, N.B. have expressed an interest in holding games. At least six locations will be used.

The absence of Canada’s most populous city from that list raised eyebrows for a number of reasons. Toronto is home to the country’s first Major League Soccer franchise — Toronto FC — and the team plays at BMO Field, which was built using federal funds as a national soccer stadium. The Rogers Centre is another potential venue in Toronto.

Toronto FC consistently plays in front of capacity crowds. The 2007 FIFA under-20 World Cup was held in Canada and Toronto played host to about 25% of the games, including the championship match.

“In early November we received a letter from Toronto city officials, principally Tourism Toronto, declining the opportunity to get involved,” said Peter Montopoli, the Canadian Soccer Association’s general secretary....



....Both Lunn and Montopoli believe the World Cup will be a unifying event similar to the 2010 Winter Games.

“The biggest thing, and we saw this at the Olympics in Vancouver, is the nation-building potential,” Montopoli said. “These kinds of events really have the potential to lift everyone in the country. We believe we can do that in 2015.”

“The FIFA World Cup could act as a springboard,” Lunn said. “It can get the nation excited heading into the Pan-Am Games, which is a big, big deal as well.”

Read More: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/...rld-cup-games/

[Taller, Better]

"said Gary Lunn, the federal Minister of State for Sport"

Gee, thanks Gary. Come and visit our city sometime. In the meantime now you are free to dole out the goodies to the ROC without any apparent fear of criticism from Toronto.
After all, who would want to watch soccer in a city that is going to be so wrapped up with excitement about the Pan Am Games a full month away?

[ACT7]

This may go down as one of the stupidest decisions this city has ever made. Why host a major international sporting event when you can host a B-class amateur event???

Nice work Toursim Toronto. I wonder how much money changed hands between the Pan Am organizers and Tourism Toronto to ensure the city didn't even express an interest in being a host city. This may be one of those things our sports-carzy mayor might want to get involved in. The silver lining in all of this is that there is still a couple years for Toursim Toronto to right this wrong and reverse their boneheaded decision.

[Taller, Better]

I am deeply suspicious that the City played no role in the decision to spread the World Cup games elsewhere, and suspect the Feds made the decision based on the flimsiest of excuses.

[current]

Hamilton Spectator article:

Larry Moko Fri Mar 11 2011
Job Opportunities Available for 2015 Pan Am Games

Pssst. Want a job?

There are some available in the sports field thanks to a joint effort of Ontario University Athletics and the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games. Together, they’ve launched the Gateway Grad Program to provide employment and opportunities for recent graduating athletes or students of sports-related programs.

Interested graduates who succeed in the evaluation process are granted a two-year, full-time, entry-level employment contract to help plan, organize and deliver what will be Canada’s largest multi-sport Games. Each Gateway Grad is teamed with an executive or managerial mentor who is committed to providing professional development opportunities.

“We expect these new hires to take on meaningful responsibilities, jump in and learn by doing with support and guidance from the best in our senior management team,” Ian Troop, CEO of TO2015, said in a release. “The Gateway Grad program is a great opportunity for young athletes to experience the planning of TO2015 first hand while also gaining valuable business experience and knowledge that will boost their careers post 2015.”

The Gateway Grad program will welcome new applicants in 2012 and in the years leading up to the Games to support the growing entry level staffing needs. Successful candidates receive a competitive entry-level market wage and benefits.

More than 40 people applied for the inaugural 2010 program when 10 placements were awarded. That first class included 12-time Paralympic medallist in swimming, Chelsey Gotell of McMaster University. She was hired as a communications and public relations associate. Justin Toth of Burlington, an elite player in football in baseball, was also selected as an operations associate.

“This is an especially rewarding career opportunity to groom the future leaders of Canadian and international sport from young elite athletes who have already demonstrated outstanding leadership in their sport,” said Margarett Best, Minister of Health Promotion and Sport.

For more information, contact Games communications adviser Carlene Siopis at 647-206-0259.

The Toronto 2015 Pan American Games will take place July 10-26 and the Parapan American Games Aug. 7-14. More than 10,000 athletes and officials are expected to take part in a total of 48 sports in Hamilton and 16 other municipalities across the Greater Golden Horseshoe area.

http://www.thespec.com/sports/articl...5-pan-am-games