The debate over Olympic infrastructure for a Calgary 2026 bid
Posted Oct 25, 2018 8:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – If Calgary goes forward with an Olympic bid, one issue for both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sides of the debate will be if the infrastructure will last.
One of the reasons why many people supported an Olympic bid was because of the promise of infrastructure upgrades.
Franco Terrazzano with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) never supported the bid and says the things we would get for the city are woefully insufficient.
“There are a whole bunch of priorities that we are looking for. Many people were hoping that this Olympic bid would include that link from the airport to downtown, that’s not in here. What we’re getting is a new mid-sized arena that has up to 6,000 seats. We’re getting some upgrades to professional sports stadiums, but are these priorities right now?”
Terrazzano says a mid-sized arena and upgrades to professional venues simply should not be a priority for Calgary.
“If we can’t justify the money for these projects without hosting the Olympics every forty years, maybe there are other infrastructure priorities that should recieving the funding ahead of this.”
On Wednesday, the IOC made a trip to Calgary in an effort to sell us on the prospect of hosting the 2026 games and we are still waiting for the final numbers from the feds to see what it would contribute.
James Millar with 2026 Bid Corporation says the CTF is taking a short view of the costs for the games. He says we have to have the Olympics to get this funding and that will help the city for decades to come.
“Whether it be renovating McMahon, or the Olympic Oval, the Saddledome, Nakiska, we have those benefits for another 30 years and our children and their children will benefit from that legacy. That’s a big part of this as well.”
“If we host these games in Calgary it would inject $4.4 billion into the local economy. That means real growth in a time when we all know we are struggling out there.”
He says because Calgary would be using existing infrastructure, we have a better idea of how much it will cost to upgrade.
Millar also noted there is a $1-billion contingency fund for cost overruns that is already in the plan.
