Four Years And Counting: Part Three

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

Concept drawing of proposed upgrade for Kin Centre (courtesy CPG)

Prince George, B.C. -  As the 2011 Winter Games get underway in Halifax, the showcase venue is a $45-million dollar indoor sports complex...

The 'Canada Games Centre' boasts three gymnasiums, two swimming pools, as well as an indoor running track.  The 2011 Host Society was lucky in that its financial commitment to this 'centerpiece' was a mere $1-million dollars of its $15-million dollar capital budget to prepare local facilities for the games. The total budget, meantime, was $46-million dollars.

The proposed budget for hosting the Canada Winter Games in Prince George in four years' time is just shy of $50-million dollars - $30-million dollars for the operations-side and $19.6-million for capital projects.

The breakdown of revenue sources for the overall budget has the City of Prince George paying 30-percent, 23-percent from Ottawa, 22-percent from the B.C. government, 16-percent from Corporate Sponsorship and a combination of ticket/merchandising, local goverment-non government partnerships, asset recovery and fundraising rounding out the remainder. 

On the capital side, the city will be responsible for $11.2-million dollars of the $19.6m budget.  At the first 2011 budget meeting earlier this week, councillors were told there would be no funding required for the operations side this year.  But they will consider a special 2-percent levy at the final budget meeting on February 28th to raise the city's capital commitment, which would amount to $1.3-million dollars this year.

Host Society member, Jim Martin, was the original Bid Committee's Director of Administration and Finance and continues to oversee financial matters in these early days.  He says, "The biggest capital piece is the improvements to the Kin Centre and bringing the facility up to the Canada Games' standards." 

(The pie chart below shows 89-percent of the capital budget will go towards upgrading the Kin facilities courtesy CPG)

Martin says the Canada Games Council sets certain size and criteria for venues, in terms of the size of playing fields, facilities for the athletes while they're on-site, and for officials, as well.  He says the bid proposal group assessed all local facilities against the Games' standard, looked at what improvements were needed to raise them to that standard and that's how the capital program was derived.

There will be some improvements to the Civic Centre Plaza.  "It will be a celebration centre for the games - one of the key anchor points within the games for people to go and participate and see things and just get involved."

There are also capital projects in the works for both Tabor and Purden Ski Hills.  And while he held off on specifics, wanting first to give those details to members of the newly-formed Host Society, Martin does say, "It involves some work that will get the venues up to meet the standards in order to do things like hold ski-cross and sno-cross and freestyle competitions and, then, the alpine skiing competitions."  The Otway Caledonia Nordic Ski Centre and the Outdoor Ice Oval will be two other beneficiaries.

Martin says, not only will these projects provide a lasting legacy to the community, but they are a springboard to hosting other events - both before and after the 2015 Winter Games.  (photo at right shows Martin at the ice oval in Halifax earlier this week, as part of the Games Transfer of Knowledge program  courtesy CPG)

He points out that some of the national sport organizations actually require Prince George to host events in the lead up to the games to 'test' the facilities. As an example, Martin is involved with the Prince George Ski Club, "And some of the events that we're trying to get on the docket for pre-events is:  the year before the Winter Games are here, having the Western Canadian FIS Championship here; the year before that, having the provincial K2 Championships here in Prince George, as well."

"And, of course, all of those have economic benefits to the community," says Martin.  "I think we'll see similar things for ringette and hockey and some of the other sports that are coming here."

According to the Canada Games Council, Prince George can expect about a $70- to $90-million dollar economic impact from hosting the 2015 Winter Games - that includes the capital investment, the pre-game events, and the impact of the Games-period, itself.

And while the capital projects will remain as a lasting legacy.  Martin sees a number of other important legacies:  he says, while always known for its volunteer capacity, the city will rise to a whole new level.  Then there's the legacy of a whole set of local officials who will be trained to a higher level for future events in Prince George, or to travel and use their expertise elsewhere.  "And one of the most important legacies: I've lived in Prince George since '93 and we always kind of look at Kamloops and Kelowna and wonder how we compare," says Martin.  "Well, this is our coming out and we will definitely shine in this area and, I think, grow a little bit more as a community in our own comfort of who we are and what we're capable of doing."

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For part one in this series, click here

For part two in this series, click here

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