Greater Sudbury city council will be asked next week to approve spending $150,000 to prepare for the next round of bidding to host the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
The money would be drawn from two reserve funds – the tax rate stabilization reserve and the capital financing reserve fund for leisure services.
The money would be used to prepare Phase 2 of the bid, says a staff report headed to council Nov. 2.
“As part of the Phase 2 bid package for the 2021 Canada Summer Games, the organization requires detailed (Class 'C') cost estimates for facilities that will be built or upgraded for the event,” the report says. “A Class 'C' estimate is a detailed assessment of a project’s anticipated cost and is generally expected to be a reliable estimate of actual expenses to be incurred.”
To accommodate the Games, several of the city's sports facilities would have to be upgraded. For example, the Terry Fox complex would need an upgrade; James Jerome would require the addition of tennis and soccer facilities; the Countryside complex would need three soccer fields (two turf, one natural), plus a field house; Centennial would require an upgrade of baseball facilities; the warmup track at Laurentian University needs to be resurfaced, a temporary warmup pool would have to be built and the diving board and judges stands upgraded.
The $150,000, if approved by councillors, would fund an assessment of what it would cost to complete all the upgrades. The report recommends awarding the contract Sports Turf International, Gym-Con Limited and NC Aquatics, both because they are familiar with the venues in Sudbury, and because the report is due Jan. 31.
The full bid proposal, along with the final bidding cheque for $10,000, is due to the Canada Games Council by Jan. 31, 2017,” the report says. “The final announcement of the successful host community (is) anticipated in spring 2017.”
If the bid is successful, it would require a minimum contribution of $3 million from the city, which would be matched by both the provincial and federal government, for a total of $9 million.
“The overall capital investment in past host venues has averaged $15 million to $19 million for previous Canada Games host communities, including all levels of government funding and private sector sponsorship,” the report says. “Based on information provided by the Canada Games Council, the 2021 Summer Games are anticipated to cost $28 million to $30 million.
“Of this, $14.7 million will be provided automatically by the federal and provincial government, and the community is expected to raise the same, with $8 million to $10 million raised through fundraising, sponsorship, ticketing and merchandise sales, and anywhere from $3.3 million to $7.3 million raised from other sources, such as partnership with both private sector and public, at the regional and national levels.”
