International Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennel and CEO Mike Hopper toured potential Halifax 2014 Commonwealth Games sites Saturday and told a news conference, “what I’ve seen so far is a very, very warm and enjoyable city”, but refused to say how the city stacks up against its competitors Glasgow and Abuja and how it may improve. Both men had already visited the other two cities.
The men were driven around town in a small motorcade and visited several venues including Shannon Park, the Halifax Metro Centre, Saint Mary’s University and Citadel Hill.
Hooper said the visit to Halifax left him with a positive impression. He said components of the Halifax bid that he has seen are “totally consistent with what is required for a modern Commonwealth Games – the clusterization (of potential venues), the close proximity to the city (and) the close proximity to the village for the athletes”.
Hooper said the amount of money that would be spent on the Games should be viewed as “an investment” in the community and the future.
Fennel said the Games committee looks at 16 “themes” when considering the winner, such as the sports venues, the athletes’ village and accommodations for technical officials, visitors, and for other sports officials.
He added, “the people factor is extremely important, both in terms of those who are the spectators and those who will be relating to the athletes”.
Fennel said members don’t really rank the criteria, but an international event calls for international-class arenas. “The village is perhaps the single most important thing because we are attracting the top-class athletes, world-class athletes, and they must be given better attention”.
Bid committee representatives said Saturday the $785 million estimate hooked to Halifax’s bid is going to change, but according to the Chronicle Herald they provided “conflicting signals about which direction the eventual bottom line might go”.
Halifax bid chairman Fred MacGillvray said the calculation is a preliminary figure that was developed “during the domestic bid phase” and the cost of the international sports event is evolving. He said changes would be made to the process weekly.
Meanwhile Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay said an announcement about Canada’s contribution to Halifax’s bid is coming within days.
He said, “we want to put forward a competitive entry that will convince those Commonwealth countries that have a vote that this is the best place in the world to have the Commonwealth Games”.
