They Came, They Saw.... They Have A Decision to Make

Wednesday, May 02, 2007 01:28 PM

Mayor Colin Kinsley welcomes selection committee to Prince George during special luncheon event at the Civic Centre

The Selection Committee that will decide who will host the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games, has been given the royal treatment . The hopes are high that the committee will select Prince George as the site for the 2011 games.

After touring the facilities this morning, the Committee was brought to the Civic Centre to see what the headquarters for the games would look like. At left, the banners were hung on the lamp standards in the square, while inside, the ceiling was draped and featured the flags of the provinces and territories that would take part in the games.

Host Committee Chair, Councilor Don Basserrmann, outlined the top ten reasons for having the games in Prince George.

He noted, among other things, the central location that is easily accessible by plane, train or automobile; excellent facilities, like the aquatic centre, the northern sport centre, Nechako ball fields, and Masich Place Stadium.

He also pointed out the pleasing summer temperatures in P.G. which are condusive to athletic events, and the past successes of things like the Scott Tournament of Hearts, and the soon to be successful Royal Bank Cup which opens on Friday.

The summer games could bring significant traffic to Prince George, as the event draws more than 2500 people from the Western provinces and the territories.

The Selection Committee will also be visiting Kamloops, the other city in the bidding battle.

A decision is expected within a couple of weeks.

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Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 01:28 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: jonnypg on May 2 2007 5:31 PM

3 million dollars later!

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 2 2007 5:52 PM

Kamloops in the summer? Not for me, unless it is inside and sipping on a sud.

Posted by: Janiya on May 2 2007 6:02 PM

It was REALLY hot last year when I was there for the BC Summer Games. xD It was a lot of fun though, but I think it would be better in PG. Not so harsh with the sun. We had to constantly have wet towels or wet bandanas around our necks to make it slightly bearable! Plus we were on an open field at like the highest part of Kamloops....xD

Posted by: Palopu on May 2 2007 7:55 PM

If Prince George gets this event, and thats a big **IF** that will give them 4 years to get our streets paved correctly and hopefully eliminate potholes. Whats the chance of that happening??

Im sure that the Pot Holes couldnt be felt as much from a Bus as they are from a car, which is to bad because it would give them an insight into what to expect in 2011.

I just came back from a trip to the Island, and Vancouver, and I can tell you we have more potholes on one street than some of these places have in their whole town.

Our streets are a shambles, and whether we like it or not they portray what we are really about. **Fancy new buildings at the end of pothole rutted roads** The glory is in building not in paving.

Pot Holes in some of the Citys on the Island are as rare as Ming Vases, and if you do happen to find one, it will be surrounded by homesick Prince Georgians.

The strip of road between 5th and the Bypass and Carney Street is absolutley terrible. I suspect that one of the reasons they cannot repair this portion of the road is because they closed the Cameron St. Bridge and if they closed 5th Avenue to repave, all the traffic would have to be rerouted to 10th Avenue or single laned on 5th. This would be a major problem, so I guess we will just have to hammer our cars to death until the City comes up with a solution.

Posted by: realitycheck on May 2 2007 7:59 PM

Why is it everything on this site becomes about potholes? Yeesh, give it a break!

Anyone with any sense can explain why there'd be less potholes on the Island.....they don't get freeze-thaw like we do. It has NOTHING to do with how much money they spend on their roads. I'm also beeting you haven't visited Port Hardy or Gold River lately as I saw some there that would put ours to shame!

Posted by: Palopu on May 2 2007 8:50 PM

With a population of 9000 people or less at Port Hardy or Gold River they at least have an excuse. (No Money) We dont have an excuse because we have the money but we like to spend it on **useless crap** that makes some people feel good.

I would think that if the potholes are a result of freeze-thaw, and that this has been going on for 90 years since the Citys inception that maybe, just maybe, we could budget for this problem and do the necessary repairs.

This City does not need anyone making excuses for their bad decisions. We all know that our roads are a mess and that the City should do something about it. The question you have to ask yourself is why dont they?? The answer seems to be that they could care less, because they have bigger fish to fry.

Posted by: thereasonableman on May 3 2007 3:17 AM

Potholes, potholes, potholes....it's not just a topic, it's a bloody obsession.

Anyway, the games sound like another tax increase. Good for them, we need more budgetary problems.

There, now we're back on topic.

Posted by: whynotyou on May 3 2007 9:36 AM

Ya, I would like to know what it will cost us??? The games, NOT the potholes. Sure, we have all these great facilities blah blah blah yaddi yadda, but, we all know that someone's cousin on their mother's side of the first wife's brother has a business that does.....and so the city will want to "fix", "change", or "add" SOMETHING that will in all likelihood COST US. Of course, this will not be brought to our attention until AFTER the city of PG can be titillated into thinking the games would just be oh so dandy to have them here!!

Warning - bend over with caution.

Posted by: owl on May 3 2007 10:18 AM

"the play's the thing" Shakespeare ....

"the games are the thing" City Council

"the potholes need to be the thing" Citizens of PG who drive.

Posted by: Palopu on May 3 2007 8:02 PM

My point on the Pot Holes was that the People who were riding the bus to decide if we will get the games or not would not be able to see how bad our roads are, and Im sure that they got the Royal Tour which means that 3rd Avenue and George St., would have been avoided like the Plague.

I understand that the powers to be are estimating a profit of $40,000.00 on these games. For that kind of money, maybe we will get lucky and Kamloops will get the nod.