John Bitove, CEO and President of Toronto’s 2008 Olympic bid committee says the city doesn’t have to wait until 2008 to see the benefits of an Olympic bid.
Bitove writes in the Toronto Star that TO-2008 “has already set in motion a process of urban revitalization, amateur sports renewal and civic rejuvenation that is underway whether it wins the right to host the Games or not”.
Bitove calls Toronto’s waterfront “a barren stretch of industrial portland” and according to the Fung Task Force Report the site is “nearly 2,000 acres of undeveloped, misused or derelict lands”. Bitove says as part of the bidding process and as a clear sign of their support, Canada’s Prime Minister, Ontario’s Premier and Toronto’s Mayor have committed $1.5 billion, ($500 million from each government), for the first phase of a massive waterfront reclamation project.
Bitove says whether or not the Games come to Toronto in 2008, the redevelopment of the city’s waterfront and infrastructure has begun.
As an athlete-driven bid, Bitove says, TO-2008 has announced the creation of a new, independent, non-profit foundation dedicated to the advancement of junior athletes – The Foundation for Athletes and Sport Training (FAST) – funded by public and private money. The foundation will give grants to eligible charitable sport agencies which will distribute the money to individual athletes, programs and organizatons. The province has already committed $10 million to this program.
And TO-2008 has unveiled the Olympic Arts and Culture program, including a number of initiatives intended to showcase arts and culture as a visible, viable and integral component of the community, says Bitove.
According to Bitove, the bid has not only brought about co-operation between governments, it has “brought together individuals and communities from across the city, signing up 60,000 volunteers so far”.
And Bitove adds, “looking around, we can already see the beginning of TO-2008’s legacy to our community and to sport. Already we are winning”.
