(cp)Monday, August 9, 1999- Manitobans reflect on legacy of Pan Am Games

Monday, August 9, 1999
WINNIPEG (CP) -- The bricks and mortar, sweat and smiles that went into making the 1999 Pan American Games a success are going to leave a lasting legacy, say those who brought the games to Winnipeg.  The most visible is the new and improved athletic facilities that can be used to lure other major sporting events.  "We can show that we have the trained volunteers to put on events like this and, secondly, that we have the sites as well," Games operations chief Bob McMahon says.  Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon adds: "The Investors Group Athletic Centre, CanWest Global Park, the equestrian park improvements, the expansion of the Pan Am pool facilities, the Winnipeg Soccer Complex, the Tennis Club, all of these things are going to be lasting legacies and infrastructure that are going to enable us to have international events here at any time."  The Games ran on a shoestring budget of $141 million. The much smaller 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria were staged for $160 million.  The Pan Am Games facilities budget was expanded by partnering with a large number of private and public groups to improve or expand upon existing sites.  The $6.6 million the Games pumped into a new $8.6-million athletic centre at the University of Manitoba was the big-ticket item.  "It gives Winnipeg another facility to put on events that will attract crowds of 2,000 to 3,000," McMahon says.  University facilities manager Jody Williams says: "We've already put in a bid to host the CIAU women's volleyball championships for the next two years which is something we never could have done before."  In other cases, a little Games money went a long way.  The new $12-million CanWest baseball park received only about $800,000 from the Games budget, with the rest put together by Sam Katz, the owner of the minor-league Winnipeg Goldeyes franchise.  If there is any cash left in the Games kitty once the bills are paid it will go into a special legacy fund established for the National Sports Centre in Winnipeg.  Ticket chief Kim Browning says it doesn't appear the Games will run into red ink, though no one will know for sure until the books are audited and that will take months.  "Even to get an unaudited statement is going to take a couple of months, but it looks promising," he says. "We're ahead of the game on sponsorship, on friends of the games, on merchandising and we anticipate like we'll come in under our budget on the costs side."  That's sweet music to the ears of Alex Gardiner, general manager at the National Sports Centre, one of several such facilities across Canada that runs programs for elite athletes and national teams.  "There are so many places where we need it," he says.  "We would lend more support to the national volleyball program, the national swim program and work more closely with and be able to offer more resources to the provincial elite training squads and programs.  "We would love to be in the enviable position the City of Victoria was after the Commonwealth Games. They had $16 million.  "It's now up to about $20 million. They run their National Sports Centre strictly from the interest from the capital."  Filmon says when all is said and done, however, it's the human legacy left by the games which may be the most important. An army of almost 19,000 volunteers answered the call to make the Games run smoothly.  "I think that Manitobans are walking taller. They honestly believe that we can do anything world class right here in Manitoba and that's going to be probably the most lasting legacy.  "I don't think I've ever seen the spirit any higher in my lifetime in this province."