Stadium Vote Ahead for Toronto 2015 Pan Ams

(ATR) Toronto 2015 CEO Ian Troop tells Around the Rings there’s little room for delay in a key vote looming for the main Pan Am Games venue.

Hamilton city council will decide Tuesday whether to move forward with construction of a 25,000-capacity stadium, long the chief cause of concern for these Pan American Games.

The hurdle comes after months of back-and-forth between the city of Hamilton and its Canadian Football League franchise concerning a location for the venue.

Troop said the two parties have at last agreed upon where to build but must still determine how.

"The real issue now becomes one of how far can they get around funding to go from 15,000 seats to 25,000 seats," Troop told ATR last week.

The proposed $160 million Pan Am Stadium would host soccer during the Games and the Tiger-Cats football team after. A capacity of 25,000 is considered the CFL minimum.

The west end location city officials will present Tuesday demands the purchase of a Canadian Pacific Railway yard and thus the allocation of additional funds.

Hamilton has put forth $55 million, and the Pan Am organizing committee has pledged $70 million. The vote will likely hinge on whether city officials are ready to fork over more.

"It really becomes a question of what do they present to Hamilton council on the 12th and how does the council respond to that proposition," Troop said.

"We can deal with a ‘yes’ and we can deal with a ‘no’. The ‘maybe’ or ‘we’ll see later’ is getting really untenable."

Elections loom Oct. 25, and the new city council won’t sit until January, so a delay as short as two weeks would likely yield a wait as long as three months.

"Can we in fact be able to build a stadium and have it ready for the Games if we don’t get definitive answers until February?" Troop asked.

"It’s pretty nip and tuck from a construction and seasonality standpoint."

The stadium will take roughly four years to build, so a March groundbreaking means a spring 2015 completion date, a timetable Troop admitted was "pretty tight".

The opening ceremony is slated for July 10.

Should Tuesday’s outcome force Toronto 2015 to look elsewhere for its main Games venue, Troop isn’t wed to a football legacy.

"The fact that it’s got seating capacity to support CFL football is not a prime concern of ours," he said.

Troop seemed far more interested in the Pan Am Stadium’s other after-Games use.

Existing plans call for the future home of the Ti-Cats to host high-performance youth soccer during the CFL’s off-season.

"That will be important to ensure that there’s an enduring sport legacy from the Games thatis dealing with amateur sport," Troop said.

Hamiltonwas once tipped for the prestigious Pan Am athletics competition but dragged its feet for too long, forcing organizers to take the meet elsewhere.

The port city in Ontario remains the site for track cycling even without a velodrome to its name.

Troop said organizers are purposely waiting on its construction until the stadium situation shakes out.

The velo isn’t under the same time constraints, he explained, and the other 50+ venues are in "very good shape".

Olympic Qualifiers Lend "Icing on the Cake"

The coming months will prove key for Toronto 2015 regardless of Tuesday’s outcome.

While a stadium solution remains front-of-mind for Troop, he said he expects to make headway soon in securing Olympic qualification status for as many of the Pan Am program’s 48 sports as possible.

Troop begantalks with international federations this summer while in Singapore for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, talks he hopes to resume later this month when he travels to Acapulco for the ANOC General Assembly.

"We want to continue to build those relationships," he told ATR, "and informally continue to build the profile of Toronto 2015 in their minds as being a great place and wonderful event that makes sense to be an Olympic qualifier."

Troop said he has spoken with 25 of the 28 summer Olympic sports, none of which have formally agreed yet.

Hoops tops his proverbial wish list, and Canada Basketball president Wayne Parrish is leading the charge.

"A marquee sport gives the community confirmation and reassurance that this will be a major athletic event with the very best athletes," Troop said.

Toronto 2015 would need the International Basketball Federation to drop its FIBA Americas tournament, already designated an Olympic qualifier and already slated for 2015.

Troop said he is optimistic about Parrish’s lobbying at last month’s world championships in Turkey and hopes to sway FIBA, and other IFs, before focus shifts to London 2012.

"We think there’s a window for us to progress those discussions in a meaningful way over the next eight months," he said.

"For us, sooner is better than later, although if we have to wait for later, I’ll wait for later."

Troop said the level of competition ultimately hinges not just on the support of international federations but also on that of the national Olympic committees.

NOCs must see Toronto 2015 as a worthwhile "stepping stone" to Rio 2016, Troop said.

"Then the Olympic qualifiers become the icing on the cake."

Written by Matthew Grayson.