Hamilton used to be called the Ambitious City. I haven't heard that expression used here in a long time. Now they're trying to get the spark back -- but is this the way to do it?
Hamilton City Council voted 12-3 yesterday, after a marathon debate, to pledge $60 million towards the construction of a new downtown stadium and velodrome that would serve as one of the main facilities for the 2015 Pan American Games, if Toronto wins the bid later this year. The facility would replace the rickety Ivor Wynne Stadium which already needs $20 million in "emergency" repairs and as much as $86 million to be totally refurbished.
That's all well and good, that Hamilton could get a stadium that could actually host the Grey Cup again ... but there are a few problems. First, the money is coming from the "Future Fund," the surplus that was created when Hamilton Hydro was turned into a money making operation after deregulation. It started with $137 million but was quickly tapped into for all sorts of slush projects; this would nearly deplete the fund. It was never meant to be used except for major financial emergencies such as the present recession, and replenished when times got better.
Second, the stadium on paper is a bare bones facility, just enough to meet international standards. A real stadium will require a lot more seats, and a lot more corporate funding -- and right now the money just isn't there.
Third, while not much expropriation would be required for the preferred site on Bay Street, it is still a few blocks walk away from the proposed east-west light rail line along Main, and the north-south line on James / Upper James is still a long ways off after that. This has the potential of being a parking nightmare -- just ask the residents in the North End who have to have special permits so they can keep their spots during festivals at Bayfront and Pier 4 Parks.
Fourth, and this is most important, the legacy issue is all too often overstated. City Halls across the region point to the benefits that Victoria and Manchester got after their respective Commonwealth Games. True, but Victoria was already a government town that got icing on the cake with year round training facilities; Manchester had a derelict part of town that was rejuvenated, but now like most of the UK is reeling from the recession.
The Olympics: We know what happened in Montréal, the Big Owe was only paid off in 2006 and is a dinosaur, the adjacent Velodrome has been turned into an environmental museum about pollution in the Americas, and the only thing left worth anything there is an observation tower with jack-high admission fees. The good training facilities cost the provincial government an arm and a leg to maintain. Atlanta -- well that was a joke, it was an international city anyway. Athens -- many of their facilities are already rotting just five years after the games.
And for cities that have hosted Pan-Am Games -- Indianapolis? Winnipeg? My point exactly.
It's great to be part of a major showcase and to host it. But expectations should be made much lower than they are being made. Talk is always about assets being created, but these should actually be booked as liabilities as most accountants do.
And given a lot of A-list athletes actually pass up on Pan Am, saving their strength for the world championships for their respective sports (usually held the same year) and the Summer Olympics the following year, we and the rest of the Golden Horseshoe may very well wind up hosting second stringers. That's not my idea of a world showcase. Get someone like a dream team to play; or get Lance Armstrong or another top cyclist to compete in a real one day event and not a three week "tour" -- you might convince me.
If Toronto gets this thing, and when the facilities wind up half-empty in six years, don't expect me to say I told you so. I still can't figure out why Toronto didn't just go for the Big Kahuna and bid for the Olympics ... if they want this part of the world to be taken seriously; of course, that would have been an even bigger white elephant.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
No comments:
Post a Comment