By Brent Jolly
If city hall’s proposed $75 million bid brings the Commonwealth Games to Ottawa, it will revitalize sports in the city, says Mayor Bob Chiarelli, and it may have a trickle-down effect in communities like Centretown.
“In the big picture this [bid] shows some significant initiatives to attract attention to Ottawa on the international scene but also to make Ottawa a more liveable community with better facilities for recreation,” Chiarelli said.
“It is true that there will be a focus on big facilities but also a number of smaller facilities that will be very community oriented,” he said.
The Commonwealth Games are a massive international multi-sport event held every four years.
The Games attract the top athletes from Commonwealth nations which makes the quality of the competition second only to the Olympics. Ottawa would host the 20th edition of the Games if its bid is successful.
Ottawa is competing with Hamilton, York and Halifax for the right to be Canada’s bid city for the 2014 Games.
If selected, Ottawa will vie against cities in Scotland and Nigeria for the right to host the event.
Chiarelli says he believes the Games are still a solid business investment that will “pay dividends” because the money the city will spend will be recouped by operating facilities which will remain after the Games.
Cyril Leeder, chief operating officer of the Ottawa Senators and bid committee member, agrees with Chiarelli.
Leeder says the preliminary plans for construction, should Ottawa’s bid be successful, would include a refurbished Frank Clair Stadium, a new 10-lane Olympic-sized pool, and an athletes’ village likely to be housed at Carleton University.
Centretown residents could possibly expect to see some redevelopment of sports fields to be used as training facilities, he added.
“We will be building infrastructure that will last a generation for sport and recreation,” says Leeder.
“We hope the new infrastructure we build will help sustain the city past the games and well into the future for everyone to experience and enjoy.”
Peter Honeywell, executive director of Council for the Arts in Ottawa, says f the city is successful in hosting the 2014 Games, he hopes the city will promote its cultural events at the same time.
Honeywell is optimistic about the prospect of more international visitors coming to Ottawa.
He says he was pleased by the possibility that increased tourism could help invigorate the typically under-funded Ottawa arts and culture scene.
“With events like these there are normally millions of dollars involved in programming,” Honeywell says. “It just might be the spark that would set this community forward.”
Leeder agreeds the bid could be important in promoting Ottawa’s cultual attractions.
More than 100,000 visitors would be expected to come to Ottawa because of the Games.
He says he envisions many people taking the opportunity to experience the many cultural events Ottawa has to offer.
Leeder points out that former host cities have experienced significant and sustained economic benefits to local businesses and their communities at large.
Officials from the city of Manchester in the U.K. say the 2002 Games have brought in 300,000 new visitors each year due to the legacy left by the Games, Leeder says.
He says this could mean as much as a five to six per cent annual increase in tourism for Ottawa.
“It is important to raise the profile of Ottawa,” says Honeywell.
“I think hosting the Commonwealth Games would be a good thing because it does create new opportunities for the community.
“Right now, all I could hope for is that there would be a lasting legacy for the community in all areas whether in arts or sports.”
The successful Canadian bid will be announced on Dec. 15.