Prince George city council approved up to $30,000 in spending from the major events reserve fund to help prepare for a visit from Special Olympics Canada personnel this October to evaluate the city’s worthiness to host the 2030 Canada Summer Games at its Monday, June 23 meeting.
Back in February, council approved a bid for the 2030 Canada Summer Games and authorized up to $400,000 from the reserve in cash and in-kind support should Prince George be selected as the host.
Then, on June 12, Special Olympics Canada announced Prince George is on the shortlist for the 2030 tournament.
A report written by city staff ahead of the meeting said that while they’re waiting on specific requests from Special Olympics Canada for the in-person site visit, they have already started planning and are asking for the $30,000 on top of the $400,000 already received.
“As we learned from the bidding and evaluation process for the 2015 Canada Winter Games, it is critically important that we put our very best foot forward to “wow” the bid evaluation committee when they visit Prince George, and to demonstrate that we are the best choice in the country to host these games,” the report said.
The report goes on to note that hosting the games would bring approximately 1,700 athletes along with their friends and family from across the country to Prince George if the city is selected as the host.
“We are very proud to already have high-quality venues that are required for all 10 sports: athletics, basketball, bocce, 10-pin bowling, golf, powerlifting, rhythmic gymnastics, soccer, softball, and swimming,” the report said. “Venues such as CN Centre, Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park, PG Conference and Civic Centre, and Canada Games Plaza are ideal places to host ceremonies and special events that shows the vibrancy of our city.”
The estimated economic impact for the city is more than $8 million.
Presenting to council at the June 23 meeting, manager of event services Debbie Haywood said the city’s application for the games represented a lot of hard work in a short amount of time.
She was asked what the $30,000 would be used for. Haywood said while the visitors would arrange their own hotels and flights, the funds would be used to set up local activities and transportation.
Director of civic facilities Andy Beesley said they don’t know the exact expenses yet, but past experience from 2015 suggests that they need to put on a show.
He said it would probably include partnering with community partners at the CN Centre for a Cougars game that will happen during their trip as well as other events at each of the potential host venues.
Whatever isn’t spent from the $30,000, director of finance and IT services Kris Dalio said, would stay in the reserve.
