TOareaFan
Superstar
Well, since I don't find it to be ugly (spartan maybe but not ugly) I think I am in favour.
|
|
|
Toronto 2015 Pan American Games
- Thread starter FutureMayor
- Start date
Well, since I don't find it to be ugly (spartan maybe but not ugly) I think I am in favour.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Pan Am mess proves Toronto dodged Olympic bullet
http://www.thestar.com/sports/panam...-am-mess-proves-toronto-dodged-olympic-bullet
When we look at the stalemated mess emerging from the Pan Am Games/Hamilton Tiger-Cat stadium, a familiar nerve is struck here: Thank God Toronto never won an Olympic Games because when a piddly 15,000-seat Pan Am Games stadium is too much for our deepest thinkers to handle properly, imagine what an expensive screw-up the real thing would be.
As Paul Henderson, the former International Olympic Committee member and good friend of amateur athletes, likes to say in one of his many spade-calling moments, “This is what happens once special interests and politicians hijack an athletic event.’’
The only reason, in this opinion, to support the Ontario bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games is for the legacy of athletic facilities they will bring. Both Ontario and Toronto have pretty much ignored amateur athletes over the years, preferring instead to use vast public resources to enrich the billionaire owners of professional sports teams. There was no other possible way to get anything built because amateur sports doesn’t have the bait (such as hockey tickets) to make politicians bend over and grab their ankles.
Ontario athletes used to make up 60 per cent of Canada’s Olympic teams, but it’s below 25 per cent now and shrinking fast. If a young athlete is exceptional, chances are he or she will need to move out of the province, where training opportunities exist to pursue the highest levels.
Now look at the Pan Am fiascos: First, Toronto Mayor David Miller withholds city support unless a swimming venue is granted to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus. It had nothing to do with swimming, but was a way to use a premier Pan Am competition to force the federal and provincial governments to fund a rapid-transit line to that part of Scarborough. Except that the transit line won’t be up and running until about a decade after the Games are held — if then. In the meantime, U of T students will pay a tax for swimming pools scheduled to be built atop a former garbage dump that will cost many millions of dollars to clean up. These will be pools the current U of T kids who pay for them will never use, by the way.
Now look to Hamilton, where the mayor there — who demanded track and field events as the price of Hamilton’s participation — is adamant there will be a new waterfront “west harbour’’ stadium. Oh, yes, and the Ticats can move in after the two-week Games fiesta and expand the stadium to their needs. Their consultants say it’s all good.
Except proud Hamiltonian Bob Young, who has thrown plenty of good money after bad to keep the Ticats afloat over the years, says it’s a terrible location for his team and he’ll lose plenty more money. (Young makes it sound as if he’s ready to throw the Ticat keys to the mayor and tell him to start driving.)
Dalton McGuinty put businessmen in charge of the Pan Ams — Roger Garland as chairman of the board and Ian Troop as CEO — because there will be $1.5 billion (and probably much more) of taxpayers’ money at stake. The original Pan Am idea was to translate as much of that as possible into athletic legacy. But already, in order to satisfy outside interests, the two biggest sports, track and swimming, are in dumb locations 100 km apart and a minimum of a solid hour’s travel from the athletes’ village. And one of the outside interests, the Ticats, isn’t close to satisfied.
This thing has barely begun and it’s already screwed up — and it’s only the who-cares Pan Am Games, remember. An Olympics would have been an even bigger mess.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/panam...-am-mess-proves-toronto-dodged-olympic-bullet
When we look at the stalemated mess emerging from the Pan Am Games/Hamilton Tiger-Cat stadium, a familiar nerve is struck here: Thank God Toronto never won an Olympic Games because when a piddly 15,000-seat Pan Am Games stadium is too much for our deepest thinkers to handle properly, imagine what an expensive screw-up the real thing would be.
As Paul Henderson, the former International Olympic Committee member and good friend of amateur athletes, likes to say in one of his many spade-calling moments, “This is what happens once special interests and politicians hijack an athletic event.’’
The only reason, in this opinion, to support the Ontario bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games is for the legacy of athletic facilities they will bring. Both Ontario and Toronto have pretty much ignored amateur athletes over the years, preferring instead to use vast public resources to enrich the billionaire owners of professional sports teams. There was no other possible way to get anything built because amateur sports doesn’t have the bait (such as hockey tickets) to make politicians bend over and grab their ankles.
Ontario athletes used to make up 60 per cent of Canada’s Olympic teams, but it’s below 25 per cent now and shrinking fast. If a young athlete is exceptional, chances are he or she will need to move out of the province, where training opportunities exist to pursue the highest levels.
Now look at the Pan Am fiascos: First, Toronto Mayor David Miller withholds city support unless a swimming venue is granted to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus. It had nothing to do with swimming, but was a way to use a premier Pan Am competition to force the federal and provincial governments to fund a rapid-transit line to that part of Scarborough. Except that the transit line won’t be up and running until about a decade after the Games are held — if then. In the meantime, U of T students will pay a tax for swimming pools scheduled to be built atop a former garbage dump that will cost many millions of dollars to clean up. These will be pools the current U of T kids who pay for them will never use, by the way.
Now look to Hamilton, where the mayor there — who demanded track and field events as the price of Hamilton’s participation — is adamant there will be a new waterfront “west harbour’’ stadium. Oh, yes, and the Ticats can move in after the two-week Games fiesta and expand the stadium to their needs. Their consultants say it’s all good.
Except proud Hamiltonian Bob Young, who has thrown plenty of good money after bad to keep the Ticats afloat over the years, says it’s a terrible location for his team and he’ll lose plenty more money. (Young makes it sound as if he’s ready to throw the Ticat keys to the mayor and tell him to start driving.)
Dalton McGuinty put businessmen in charge of the Pan Ams — Roger Garland as chairman of the board and Ian Troop as CEO — because there will be $1.5 billion (and probably much more) of taxpayers’ money at stake. The original Pan Am idea was to translate as much of that as possible into athletic legacy. But already, in order to satisfy outside interests, the two biggest sports, track and swimming, are in dumb locations 100 km apart and a minimum of a solid hour’s travel from the athletes’ village. And one of the outside interests, the Ticats, isn’t close to satisfied.
This thing has barely begun and it’s already screwed up — and it’s only the who-cares Pan Am Games, remember. An Olympics would have been an even bigger mess.
TOareaFan
Superstar
My only problem wiith this article is that it paints it as a "Toronto specific" problem.....I bet you every city goes through a lot of hand wringing and public debate over things like this when they bid/host an event.......anyone else following the whole Olympic Stadium mess in London?
nfitz
Superstar
Or the whole Olympic Stadium mess in Montreal? They didn't even finish building the thing until 10-years after the Olympics ended ...
GraphicMatt
Looking forward to a FRESH START for Toronto
You could practically draft a full three year's worth of news stories in advance every time a major sporting event comes to a region. First it's all sunshine and "This will be great!" Then there's a period of controversial planning decisions and accusations of corruption. "Games a Mixed Blessing?" the headlines read. Then things start going way over budget and fall behind schedule and the headlines are all "Games a Bust?" This is followed by an interlude where all sorts of special interest groups get mad that the government is funding this and not them. Finally, the event happens and is generally successful and everybody feels good about themselves.
Then everyone gets mad about the debt afterwards.
Then everyone gets mad about the debt afterwards.
GenerationW
Senior Member
And didn't finish paying for it until 2006!
Oliver Tweed
Active Member
The Star is so negative. They don't speak for Toronto. I don't care how many free papers they drop at my front door, I'll never subscribe.
TO City of Light
Active Member
Kind of like a 30 year mortgage isn't it. Paying for Olympic facilities up front is like paying cash for a house.
Trust me, our children will wish we had spent a bit more on infrastructure and its maintenance when they inherit the mess we give them.
.
password1125
New Member
Since May 17 is the deadline for Hamilton to tell were the athletics stadium will be built, and it looks like they wont meet the deadline, Do you think the stadium would be moved to Toronto?
TOareaFan
Superstar
password1125
New Member
y
nfitz
Superstar
Seems like a great opportunity for the City of Toronto and the Argos to make life easy for the organizing committee and propose a stadium.
TOareaFan
Superstar
I think provincial, and to a lesser extent federal, support for these games was garnered on the basis of it being a Golden Horseshoe games and that the benefits would be spread wider than just the city of Toronto. I think the province will go to great lengths to broker some sort of deal that keeps the stadium in Hamilton
Jonny5
Senior Member
Potential B stadium plans in Pan Am negotiation
JOHN KERNAGHAN
The city has agreed to discuss alternate sites to the west harbour for the 2015 Pan Am stadium, putting it and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats closer to naming a facilitator to hammer out a solution for the $100- to $150-million facility.
Both sides said Saturday that other locations could be assessed.
“The west harbour site should be the starting point,†said Mayor Fred Eisenberger, but he added he does not disagree with looking at other sites if they are viable.
He made his comments after a community engagement session Saturday morning at the Art Gallery of Hamilton which looked at opportunities flowing from the Games.
Ticat president Scott Mitchell stressed during the meeting that “any and all†sites should be open for examination.
The city left open the option of a plan B site in February when council approved the west harbour location.
Both men said 90 per cent of discussions between the city and the football club have been productive
The city is carrying on with planning around the Bay and Barton Streets site, including land purchases and soil testing.
Eisenberger said he called for the engagement session in order to bring the Pan Am discussion back to the reasons Premier Dalton McGuinty led the charge to win the Games and Hamilton agreed to be a senior partner.
The session centred on the health and wealth benefits from a legacy of sports and recreation facilities to serve the community, thousands of construction, service and supply jobs and a buffing of Hamilton’s image internationally.
JOHN KERNAGHAN
The city has agreed to discuss alternate sites to the west harbour for the 2015 Pan Am stadium, putting it and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats closer to naming a facilitator to hammer out a solution for the $100- to $150-million facility.
Both sides said Saturday that other locations could be assessed.
“The west harbour site should be the starting point,†said Mayor Fred Eisenberger, but he added he does not disagree with looking at other sites if they are viable.
He made his comments after a community engagement session Saturday morning at the Art Gallery of Hamilton which looked at opportunities flowing from the Games.
Ticat president Scott Mitchell stressed during the meeting that “any and all†sites should be open for examination.
The city left open the option of a plan B site in February when council approved the west harbour location.
Both men said 90 per cent of discussions between the city and the football club have been productive
The city is carrying on with planning around the Bay and Barton Streets site, including land purchases and soil testing.
Eisenberger said he called for the engagement session in order to bring the Pan Am discussion back to the reasons Premier Dalton McGuinty led the charge to win the Games and Hamilton agreed to be a senior partner.
The session centred on the health and wealth benefits from a legacy of sports and recreation facilities to serve the community, thousands of construction, service and supply jobs and a buffing of Hamilton’s image internationally.
password1125
New Member
Since Dubai has withdrawn its 2013 bid do you think Toronto can make a bid?