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Toronto 2015 Pan American Games

Hipster Duck said:
Well, you have to use a 'slippery slope' otherwise we end up funding absolutely everything sparing absolutely no expenses. I mean, why aren't we spending $1 trillion on butterfly collecting?
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You gave me pause here, Hipster Duck. To put it simply though I just don't see a lot of people advocating for it or too many possible wider benefits, and no amount of marketing spin that would likely make it so. Pussycat Swallowtail be damned!! It's a fine line, I grant you, but I'm not sure the litmus test is solely 'majority rule' here.

I do agree that it can pose a challenge when extreme niche intersects with substantial and specific infrastructure requirements... which is why you do have to step back a bit and consider if there is a bigger picture that might justify the investment. In other words, outside the context of an Olympics bid an investment in luge facilities may just not make sense. An Olympic bid may absolutely make sense, however - which is a whole other thread - and luge facilities may simply be a requirement. TOperson is going apoplectic, I'm sure.
 
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Tewder said:
You gave me pause here, Hipster Duck. To put it simply though I just don't see a lot of people advocating for it or too many possible wider benefits, and no amount of marketing spin that would likely make it so. Pussycat Swallowtail be damned!! It's a fine line, I grant you, but I'm not sure the litmus test is solely 'majority rule' here.
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I don't think it should be solely majority rules, either. For example, building a wheelchair ramp to a public building clearly doesn't do anything for the majority of people, but it greatly increases the welfare and human rights of those people in wheelchairs, so it's worth it. Or, earthquake-proofing a building in California might cost billions, but we do it because in the rare circumstance that an earthquake hits, you would rather have spent billions to earthquake proof buildings than have to pull hundreds of bodies out in the aftermath.

With many Olympic facilities, the spending of public resources doesn't seem to pass the majority rules, human rights or risk smell test. I suppose the best thing to do would be to drop some of those events. There will be an outcry if the luge or ski jumping got dropped, but, sports events have been dropped before and only a few people will have to suck it up.
 
JohnQCitizen said:
Concentrate on water sports like canoeing and kayak, and boxing and rugby, sports where we have a core of good athletes.
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Then, rather than bid for mult-sports events that have (as one of their goals) building sporting infrastructure in a variety of sports, we should bid to host the canoeing and kayaking world championships, the world cup of rugby, etc.

Once you bid (and in this case win) an event like the PanAms, you kinda accept a responsiblity to provide facilities for all of the sports that make up those games.....no?
 
Johnny Au said:
We all know that Canada got a lone gold medal in the London Olympics from trampoline. Along with other facilities (such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, rugby, boxing, et al.), we should invest in more trampolines (with proper safety measures of course).
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No need....just go to suburbia....you won't find too many backyards without them ;)

The notion that we should only invest in what we are already good at is interesting. It reminds me when I used to coach sports.....it was never hard to get kids to practice the things they were already good at. Getting them to invest time in the things they needed to improve in was the challenge!
 
If our goal as a country is to win gold medals to crow about mindlessly, then we need to treat amateur sports competitions as though they were military campaigns. Recruit or conscript the best in each discipline and spare no expense to train them to the peak of physical fitness. Or we could do like some countries and just hire a truckload of really fine chemists to create super-athletes and mask the stuff that makes them that way....
 
Pan Am Soccer Stadium / New Ivor Wynne design to be released October 12th

http://www.thespec.com/news/article/804610--pan-am-stadium-planrollout-soon

So, what does $150 million get you these days in a stadium that seats 22,000 people for soccer and football?

Based on recent stadium construction and the needs of tenants like the Tiger-Cats, a pro soccer team and training academy as well as community uses, here's some basics:

• Minimum 19-inch-wide seats and up to 21 inches for regular seating with armrests and cup holders.Club seating, an upgrade from regular seats, which include access to lounges with catered food and drink, to be 22 to 24 inches wide with padding. Suite seating would be a further upgrade depending on the client.
• Larger and perhaps double the number of restrooms with quick access from seating.
• More efficient concessions with easy access from seating.
• Sightlines and proximity to the field that come close to duplicating Ivor Wynne. With a minimum 70-yard width to accommodate Pan Am soccer versus 65 yards for football, Ticat fans will likely be further from the action at the new stadium, unless the design includes seating sections that can retract.
• Most modern stadiums feature fixed or suspended roof sections that spare many fans rain and protect them from the sun, while still letting light through.
• Large and modern dressing rooms for two pro football and two pro soccer teams, as well as smaller rooms for minor sports.
• Flexibility to add temporary seating for special events like the Grey Cup.
• Wi-Fi capability so 22,000 fans can use wireless devices to search game statistics as well as conduct personal business.
• As many as 32 camera positions for special TV events, as well as an in-house TV studio.
• Prime positions for suites likely means press, radio and TV boxes will be moved to the corners, away from the traditional 55-yard-line positions.
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions, waste diversion and recycling and efficient use of energy and water.
• A signature flourish in design or theme that says Hamilton, a demanding element in a city that is evolving.
• Community use in the form of space for health and wellness programs and space that complements future recreation development in the area surrounding the stadium.
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PanAm Game prosperity?

Was just speaking with an associate of mine who works part time in real estate. According to him, despite the current market slump, Toronto will be relatively untouched by it due to the upcoming PanAm games, but I beg to differ. Yes, some of our recent boom is, in part, due to the games, but I can't see how our seemingly never ending condo boom has anything to do with it, so I thought I'd ask the experts aka you, true or false, what is your opinion?
 
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