Should Hamilton bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games?
A past council rejected the idea of making a play for the international event even though the original British Empire Games started in Hamilton in 1930.
NEWS 05:40 PM by Matthew Van Dongen The Hamilton Spectator
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9...wealth-games-/
Amateur sport boosters will try to convince a new crop of Hamilton councillors to bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games less than two years after local politicians rejected the idea.
City council refused in 2017 to even study the notion of hosting the international games despite encouragement from Canadian organizers who noted the first event — then called the British Empire Games — was hosted in Hamilton in 1930 on the site of what is now Tim Hortons Field.
Now, a sports coalition dubbed "Hamilton 100" will resurrect the anniversary games pitch to a newly elected council with five new political faces in the hopes of getting a better reception.
"Hamilton is to the Commonwealth Games as Athens is to the Olympics," says an introductory letter to council signed by P.J. Mercanti, CEO of convention centre operator Carmen's Group. "This potential once-in-forever project could transform the city and provide a lasting legacy that the community would enjoy for generations."
By comparison, a modern-day games would likely be a $1-billion-plus, multi-government undertaking attracting 6,000-plus athletes to the city to compete in up to 17 sports like swimming, cycling, and track and field.
Mercanti's letter notes McMaster University, Sport Hamilton and private businesses have jumped on the Hamilton 100 bandwagon and plan to "explore the self-financing" of a Games bid. "Our community coalition feels very confident in our ability to impressively bid — and win — the 2030 Commonwealth Games," he wrote.
Mercanti is also part of a consortium that has expressed interest in redeveloping aging city-owned venues like the hockey arena and convention centre into a downtown commercial and entertainment "precinct." Mercanti has said in the past a prospective redevelopment could tie in to a 2030 games bid.
It remains to be seen if a majority of city councillors are willing to get in the game.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger has said in the past he would like to explore hosting the anniversary games.
But other longtime councillors like Sam Merulla and Tom Jackson admitted to "games fatigue" following a tumultuous 2015 Pan Am Games.
That event helped Hamilton build a new $145-million football and soccer stadium with provincial cash — but not before late construction and ongoing repair issues spawned a lawsuit between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the consortium that built that stadium, and two levels of government that was only recently settled.
The search for a Pan Am stadium site also spurred the infamous purchase and razing of several Barton-Tiffany neighbourhood homes and businesses for no reason, after the Tiger-Cats announced the site was not suitable.
The city has also experienced Commonwealth disappointment via failed bids in 2010 and 2014.
Ironically, council nixed a study of another bid in 2017 despite encouraging hints from Canadian Commonwealth Games officials. CEO Brian MacPherson told The Spectator there was a "natural feeling" among international games organizers that centennial events "should go to the birthplace."
Games boosters are expected to address councillors at a meeting March 20.