Toronto 2015 Pan Am Bid Team Unveils Venue Plan

Games will generate jobs and needed infrastructure investment across Greater Golden Horseshoe

The Hon. David Peterson, Chair of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Bid, revealed today a venue plan that will see Games events staged in Toronto and across the Greater Golden Horseshoe region over 25 days in July and August, 2015.

“The venue plan is a critical component of our bid to host the 2015 Pan and Parapan Am Games,” said Peterson. “We have come up with an exciting and achievable plan that is good for Toronto, good for the Greater Golden Horseshoe region and good for an excellent Games.”

The 2015 Pan Am Games would run for 17 days, July 10 to 26, followed by the Parapan Games running for eight days, August 7 to 14. The venue plan combines using new and existing facilities in Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe for competitions, training facilities, Games operations and accommodations for athletes and officials.

The Games would bring a total $1.4 billion injection of federal, provincial, municipal and private funding into sports infrastructure for broad community benefits and long-term athlete development in Ontario for years to come. It would also trigger more than 15,000 jobs in construction, tourism and event support.

“We have a first-rate plan that’s evolved out of a tremendous spirit of collaboration and partnership of the federal government, Ontario, many municipalities, the Canadian Olympic Committee and others that have come forward to support these Games,” said Jagoda Pike, President and COO, Toronto 2015.

Competitions, training and event operations would be staged in three primary Games Zones across Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Central Games Zone

The plan includes a core cluster of events in Toronto:

• Rogers Centre is proposed for Pan Am Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Baseball. Basketball will be at the Air Canada Centre and Football (soccer) at BMO Field.

• Ontario Place and Exhibition Place and its facilities will host Open Water Swimming, Cycling, Fencing, Artistic and Rythmic Gymnastics, Handball, Karate, Fencing, Squash, Triathlon, Beach Volleyball, Waterski Wakeboard, and Sailing at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.

• Weightlifting will be at Roy Thomson Hall and Nathan Phillips Square and Ontario Place will be Festival Sites.

• Varsity Stadium will host the Parapan Am Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

• The Athletes’ Village will be located here.

Surrounding communities are part of the Central Games Zone:

• The Etobicoke Olympium will be a training site for Diving. Centennial Park will be a training site for Football and Parapan Football. Archery will be at Sunnybrook Park.

In other municipalities within the Central Games Zone:

• Brampton will host Wrestling at the Powerade Centre and local venues will host a Cricket Exhibition and training for Racquetball and Football.

• Events in Mississauga will be hosted at the Hershey Centre with Taekwondo, Judo and Parapan Judo; Mississauga Iceland will host Artistic and Track Roller Sports and Classic Bowl will host Bowling.

• Markham will have a new 50-metre pool for Water Polo and training for Parapan Aquatics. Badminton, Table Tennis and Parapan Table Tennis will be at Centennial Community Centre, and Rugby will be at Fletcher’s Fields.

• Richmond Hill will host Baseball games at Richmond Green Park.

Other Central Games Zone highlights:

• Toronto’s universities are key participants: Racquetball and Basketball (training) is at Ryerson and York is hosting Athletics (training) and Tennis at the Rexall Centre. University of Toronto campuses would see Parapan American Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Modern Pentathlon (Swimming), Parapan Football, Futsal, and Swimming (training).

• The Canadian Sports Institute Ontario (CSIO) and the Pan Am Games Aquatics Centre are major legacy developments, with the City of Toronto and the University of Toronto in partnership. The CSIO will provide sport science, support and performance resources for long-term community benefits and athlete development. The Aquatics Centre will be a national high-performance centre, accessible to Ontario athletes currently underserved in elite training.

• Variety Village is the site for two Parapan events – Goal Ball and Power Lifting.

• The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is the proposed Media and Broadcast Centre.

East Games Zone

A number of competition and training events are slated for the east:

• Ajax will host Shooting and Modern Pentathlon (Running/Shooting and Equestrian components).

• In Oshawa, the General Motors Centre will be the site of Boxing; Durham College will host Parapan Boccia; Softball will be at Lakefront West Park and Shooting at the Oshawa Gun Club.

• Whitby’s Iroquois Sport Park and its planned Durham Abilities Centre will host Parapan Tennis and Basketball.

West Games Zone

The West Games Zone features a cluster of facilities in Hamilton:

• Games’ favourite Athletics and Parapan Athletics are proposed to be held in a new stadium.

• A permanent velodrome is proposed for Track Cycling.

• McMaster University will be the location for a new pool for Aquatics (training) Parapan Athletics and Athletics (training) and Volleyball (training). Copps Coliseum will host Indoor Volleyball and Ron Joyce Stadium will be a Football site.

In Burlington:

• Sherwood Park will be a Football site.

Outer Clusters

There are sports with specific requirements that traditionally place them outside the primary Games area. These are proposed for ideal facilities across the region:

To the north:

• Barrie’s Waterfront is the proposed site for BMX Cycling.

• Minden’s Wild Water Preserve will be the site for Canoe/Kayak Slalom.

• Hardwood Hills in Oro will be the site for Cycling Mountain Bike.

To the south:

• Niagara Falls is the proposed site for a Welcome Centre for visitors.

• St. Catharines’ Royal Canadian Henley Regatta Course will host Rowing.

• Welland’s International Flatwater Centre will be the location for Canoe/Kayak Sprint.

The Pan Am Games are a major international multi-sport event, held every four years for athletes of the 42 PASO member nations. The Pan American Games consists of all Summer Olympic sports, plus other non-Olympic events, and serve as an Olympic-qualifier for a number of participating sports. The last edition of the games was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July 2007 and the next edition is scheduled to take place in Guadalajara, Mexico in October 2011.