Toronto 2015 Pan American Games

[MetroMan]

What was so groundbreaking about our technical bids? I don't know too much about our previous bids.

Not to get in too in depth, the very small footprint with all the venues within very close proximity to each other and the athletes village was one of the hallmarks of the TO2008 bid.

Clearly the opposite is happening in the PanAm and it's one of the reasons why almost every venue will need to built from scratch for any future Olympic bid. The venues won't go to waste as they'll be used going forward to train world class athletes that will be need to rank high as a host country.

 

[animatronic]

I dunno? I think it depends on what the IOC considers a failure and a winner for these games. If I had to take an educated guess; I think they'll see how having venues spread across the region worked out for the Pan Am's, and if there where any problems, a plan would be put together how these problems will be solved for the Olympics. I think that is one thing they'll be looking at if we submit on time.

Remember that how the ioc defines success is not the same as how cities and countries define success. It's easy for the ioc to get excited when they are spending other peoples' money.

Also remember that there is an entire generation of Quebecers that helped pay for their games who weren't even alive in 1976.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Not to get in too in depth, the very small footprint with all the venues within very close proximity to each other and the athletes village was one of the hallmarks of the TO2008 bid.

Clearly the opposite is happening in the PanAm and it's one of the reasons why almost every venue will need to built from scratch for any future Olympic bid. The venues won't go to waste as they'll be used going forward to train world class athletes that will be need to rank high as a host country.

It will be interesting having so many athletics facilities, presumably all in downtown Toronto.

Why didn't we build the venues close together for Pan Am, so they could be reused from Toronto's Olympics?

 

[CodeMonkey]

Remember that how the ioc defines success is not the same as how cities and countries define success. It's way for the ioc to get excited when they are spending other peoples' money.

Oh I know there is a difference between how the IOC and cites and countries define success. The IOC defines success on how much kickbacks, I mean fees, they receive in the bidding process.


Still, 2028 is too far off that we would need new or at least renovated pan am venues by that time. 2024 is the best possible chance if the city truly wants to host the Olympics.

 

[animatronic]

Well, the deadline for the 2024 Olympic game bid is September 15th 2015 for the city to inform the IOC it want to compete, along with all documentation. Anyone think we can make this deadline? Or should we try for the 2028 bid when it opens up in 2019?

Would not be surprised to find out that there has been a skunkworks 2024 bid team working somewhere inside the 2015 bureaucracy.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Would not be surprised to find out that there has been a skunkworks 2024 bid team working somewhere inside the 2015 bureaucracy.

I doubt it, according to the Toronto Star, the city voted no to funding a bid last year.

"The initial step would be for Toronto’s economic development committee to reverse a decision it made in early 2014 against spending money to do a detailed pre-bid analysis of the pros and cons of hosting the Games." - Bob Hepburn (Toronto Star)

 

[animatronic]

I doubt it, according to the Toronto Star, the city voted no to funding a bid last year.

"The initial step would be for Toronto’s economic development committee to reverse a decision it made in early 2014 against spending money to do a detailed pre-bid analysis of the pros and cons of hosting the Games." - Bob Hepburn (Toronto Star)

That's why if one exists it's probably buried inside a huge pool of already approved funding.

 

[MetroMan]

The stories are starting to trickle in:

Toronto gets into Pan Am spirit; ticket sales double
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/mobile/toronto-gets-into-pan-am-spirit-ticket-sales-double-1.2465333

 

[wopchop]

They missed an incredible opportunity to show of the SkyDome's opening roof while treating those inside the Opening Ceremony to a fireworks display. They could've worked the roof opening into the speeches that went on for long enough to open the dome.
.

They couldn't open the Dome because the staging inside was hanging from it. I too wanted to see the dome open up at some point (having a base jumper actually come down into the Dome form the CN Tower instead of on video would have been cool) but realized as soon as I saw the set-up inside that it just couldn't happen. They would not have been able to have the lighting/suspended staging aspects unless they built columns around the stage, which would have cut off site lines.
Even without the dome opening, it was a spectacular opening ceremonies. You could see the firework display on large screens inside the Dome, and hear them going off.

Yes, this is exactly why. The 20 minute Dome opening time is not the only problem. All of the rigging would have to be removed before the Dome was opened.

I saw videos of the fireworks and I'm pissed that I missed it in person. Looked awesome. Doing this in the future for New Years Eve or Canada Day or something would be amazing. Ball dropping? Please. We launch rockets from our sky tower.

 

[Johnny Au]

Not mine:

The last time the CN Tower looked that explosive was on the first second of the year 2000 as part of the New Millennium celebrations.

 

[someMidTowner]

Some shots of the inflatable structure at Harbourfront and the cauldron

 

[salsa]

Did they reopen Ontario Place for the Pan Am games?

 

[TheTigerMaster]

The stories are starting to trickle in:

Toronto gets into Pan Am spirit; ticket sales double
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/mobile/toronto-gets-into-pan-am-spirit-ticket-sales-double-1.2465333

Is it true that Guadalajara previously held the record for most tickets sold?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The cauldron is nice but I was spoiled by the one in Vancouver. I won't miss ours if it's removed after the games. The Vancouver cauldron is permanent and deservedly so.

Also, what's with the fences around the cauldron? It's already built high with a berm of bushes to keep people off without the use of fences.

My feeling is opposite - I found the Vancouver cauldron clumsy, trying too hard to look crystalline but dictated by the structural needs and end up looking graceless (and of course, it got stuck during the opening ceremonies too, which is a major fail in my books). If they could make this with the scales of the cone having mirror like reflectiveness, hosting a small flame within each crevase it would look pretty good.

AoD

 

[someMidTowner]

The cauldron really radiates heat. There was a noticeable increase in temperature standing near it.