Council pushes Hamilton 100 forward for 2030 Commonwealth Games bid

Thestar.com
May 19, 2022

The city is throwing its weight behind a private group’s final proposal to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Hamilton.

A letter of endorsement and updated memorandum of understanding are needed to advance Hamilton 100’s pitch to multi-party talks with senior levels of government.

Those discussions will reveal what contributions the city might make toward the estimated $1-billion, two-week sports event.

But Hamilton 100 has made “no specific ask” of the city, team member Lou Frapporti told councillors Wednesday.

“We have created a bid approach that doesn’t require any infrastructure investment by the City of Hamilton -- full stop.”

In a 10-3 vote, council told staff to press forward with the process, which is expected to require five to seven full-time positions to support, noting more than one “off-ramp” ahead to abandon the pitch.

“I don’t think we’ll ever get there,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger of a potential “no-go” scenario as more financial details emerge.

But Coun. John-Paul Danko, one of the three who opposed the chosen path forward, expressed concern over stating in the endorsement letter that the city “may be a financial contributor” to the games.

“I really do not want to write a blank cheque and agree even in principle to something like that.”

But Danko’s effort to remove that language from the document failed on a 9-3 vote.

If the city is “not in the game, we have no say,” Coun. Esther Pauls said, praising Hamilton 100’s “unbelievable” volunteer quest to host the 100th anniversary of the games in its birthplace.

The scope of the nonprofit’s proposal has shifted more than once since it first asked council for its support for 2030 in 2019.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the team -- lead by PJ Mercanti, CEO of Carmen’s Group -- pursued a bid for the 2026 games.

That unravelled in late 2020 when the provincial government said it couldn’t support a games and World Cup in the same year.

The group ultimately returned to its original campaign to mount a centenary celebration anchored in Hamilton, but with sporting events sprinkled throughout the region and an emphasis on private-sector investment.

In a presentation Wednesday, Frapporti and Mercanti noted the estimated budget for their previous 2030 pitch was $1.42 billion, with roughly $550 million dedicated to infrastructure. The proposed city investment was $150 to $175 million.

Now, the overall budget is about $1 billion. The proposed “HostCo” capital expenditure is under $50 million with 90 per cent of infrastructure to come from private and public sources “outside” the games budget.

“There is very strong regional interest in the 2030 Commonwealth Games,” said Frapporti, noting 14 proposals to host events, including Milton and Kitchener-Waterloo.

But those are not “legally binding” agreements that carry financial commitments, which are details to be hashed out in multi-party talks, the lawyer with Gowling WLG said.

In an email, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward noted Burlington has had discussions with Hamilton 100 but hasn’t formalized any arrangements. “We will keep the door open to further conversations.”

Hamilton 100 notes the hosting proposal should be submitted to the province in the next month. The Canadian pitch is to be made to the Commonwealth Games Federation by the end of 2023’s first quarter, with the overseeing body expected to select a host that November.

“We’re looking at this not as a two-week sporting event, but a movement,” said Mercanti, who also leads a consortium that landed a long-term deal last year to refurbish and operate the city’s downtown entertainment venues, including the York Boulevard arena.

Eisenberger, a staunch supporter of the bid since Hamilton 100 made its entrance, said the event has the potential to fill infrastructure deficits.

The 2015 Pan Am Games, for instance, led to the construction of Tim Hortons Field, which replaced Ivor Wynne.

“We didn’t have the resources to fix that stadium,” said Eisenberger, noting the city faced a repair bill between $70 million and $90 million.

Several organizations have backed Hamilton 100’s proposal, but there is also strident opposition to the pitch.

“Very simply, I believe this endeavour would be a waste of time and money, and a giant distraction from what should be the city’s top priority: directly addressing the housing and homelessness crisis,” Matt Jelly wrote in a letter to council.

“Every dollar and minute council and city staff spend considering this proposal would be better spent lobbying upper levels of government to invest in new public housing,” the local artist added.

Coun. Brad Clark, who has aired reservations about the games in the past, said what might happen with interest rates and the economy worried him, but Wednesday’s decision doesn’t yet lock the city into hosting.

“But I wanted to make it very clear that I am apprehensive.”