After the athletes exit: 6 ways the Canada Summer Games will leave Winnipeg better off
$29M-athletic legacy includes mountain bike trail, beach volleyball centre
With thousands of young athletes and their families in Winnipeg this week, it's tough not to notice the presence of the Canada Summer Games.
But after the visitors are gone, the 2017 event will leave Winnipeg a $29-million legacy in the form of amenities built or improved specifically for the games.
"Physical legacies are a big part of these games, obviously," said Jeff Hnatiuk, president and CEO of the games, which spent $6 million on improving existing Winnipeg facilities alone
Here's a rundown of the six biggest amenities built or fixed for the games that are bound to serve the city well after they're done:
1. The Sport for Life Centre
The Canada Summer Games contributed $3 million to the construction of Sport Manitoba's $23-million, 124,000-square-foot downtown fieldhouse, formally known as the Qualico Training Centre. The Pacific Avenue building is being used as a volleyball and basketball venue during the games but will serve athletes at a variety of skill levels after the event is over.
The building houses three indoor courts, strength and conditioning areas, aerobic training spaces and an indoor training track. It's attached to a 76,000-square-foot Sport Manitoba heritage-building renovation that houses offices and a physiotherapy clinic.
2. University of Manitoba Stadium
Until the construction of Investors Group Field in 2013, University Stadium was the biggest outdoor athletic venue at the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry Campus.
The old stadium received a $2-million makeover for the Canada Summer Games, receiving a new scoreboard and a new surface.
"That will be one of only four athletic-only training sites in the whole country," said Hnatiuk, referring to stadiums specifically.
3. Pan Am Pool improvements
Built for the 1967 Pan American Games, the Pan Am Pool in the Grant Park neighbourhood received a new bulkhead for the Canada Summer Games.
Hnatiuk pegged the pricetag for the improvement at $600,000 and said it's first bulkhead replacement in the 50-year life of the pool.
4. FortWhyte Alive
Before the establishement of FortWhyte Alive in the southwest corner of Winnipeg, a concrete and aggregate plant took up much of the site. One of the areas most disturbed by industrial activity has been converted into a 10-kilometre mountain-bike course called Bison Butte.
The $600,000 course is one of only four in Canada built in urban areas specifically for elite competition, Hnatiuk said. After the games, the course will be open to Manitoba Cycling Association members, he said.
5. The Forks
The $120,000 sign, illuminated for the first time last weekend, is similar to the Toronto sign erected at Nathan Phillips Square for the Ontario capital's Pan American Games.
"Compared to Toronto, it's actually larger," Bowman quipped last week.
6. Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex
Cindy Klassen is best known as a speed skater and a cyclist, but the Sargent Park recreation complex that bears her name now sports a competition-class beach volleyball venue.
"This is going to cater to recreational right through to higher-performing athletes," said Hnatiuk, citing both this venue and the FortWhyte mountain-bike course as the two venues that fill recreational needs in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg's mayor also said the games will leave a legacy beyond the bricks-and-mortar amenities built or improved for the athletic events.
He said the city will also benefit from the skills acquired by Canada Summer Games volunteers
"There's a lot of people that are now community leaders that really cut their teeth at community leadership during Pan Am Games. We're expecting the same thing to happen during these games," Bowman said.
"That's that human legacy that will keep on afterwards."
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