Hamilton city council overwhelmingly reaffirmed its commitment Thursday to bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Hamilton Mayor Larry Di Ianni said that winning the right to host the Games would cost the city somewhere in the range of $100 million, but the investment would result in about $700 million in federal, provincial and private sector funding to upgrade Hamilton’s infrastructure.
Councillors were also being asked to approve up to $1 million in spending as part of the estimated $5.2 million budget to put together an international bid package if Hamilton is selected Canada’s representative.
Earlier the mayor said, ‘I’m excited that we are going forward with the bid and that we have the opportunity to bring a world-class event to Hamilton. I also obviously look forward to investment $1 to get $8 back from other levels of government and the private sector. That will help us revitalize and regenerate our community”.
Other cities bidding to become Canada’s candidate include Halifax, Ottawa and the Regional Municipality of York.
If Hamilton hosts the 2014 Commonwealth Games a new sports park, with a stadium that would seat between 30,000 to 50,000 people would be built. There would be a new aquatics centre, a new sports complex with gymnasiums, a new triple-pad arena, as well as additional sports fields and another gymnasium.
The bid application to be delivered in Ottawa Tuesday will reportedly be about 250 pages long, with another 150 pages that outline Hamilton’s business plan.
