Black Diamond has balked at an opportunity to bid for the 2014 Alberta Winter Games despite an invitation from the Province to submit a bid.
Black Diamond Mayor Sharlene Brown said the community simply does not have the infrastructure to handle an event of that magnitude.
“We’re just not a big enough community,” said Brown. “To host the games, you need to have big sports facilities and our communities just don’t have those facilities … We don’t even have enough places to house the athletes or spectators. There’s a lot of work we would have to do in order to make that work.”
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Parks and Recreation, communities awarded the opportunity to host the Alberta Winter Games receive a total of $420,000 in base financial support to cover the operational, cultural and legacy aspects of the Games. The operational grant is worth $300,000, the cultural grant worth $70,000 and the legacy grant, provided after the Games, is worth $50,000.
Communities that have hosted the Alberta Winter Games in the past have generated up to $3 million in direct economic activity during the event.
Even with the financial support, Brown said it is not enough to cover the costs.
In 2004, Okotoks, High River and the MD of Foothills hosted the Alberta Summer Games. Brown pointed out even communities the size of Okotoks needed to partner with other communities to host the Games.
“So that says a lot,” she said, adding even if Black Diamond were to partner with nearby Turner Valley, between the two of them they still don’t have the facilities needed to host the Games.
This is not the first year the Town has been invited to submit a bid to host the event. However, Brown said there is potential Black Diamond could host the Games in the future.
“If we started putting money into those types of facilities that would be needed for the Games, that might be an opportunity we could take on in the future,” she said.
Les Quinton, manager of the Oilfields Regional Arena, said he welcomes the Town putting more money into expanding his facility in the future.
“The spectator capacity of the Oilfields Regional Arena is about 250,” said Quinton, who is also the Town’s parks and recreation manager. “We are definitely lacking in that area for spectators to watch.”
However, even if the region’s sports facilities were expanded, Quinton said accommodation would still be an issue for hosting an event such as the Alberta Winter Games.
Quinton said he could envision the Town hosting the Games if they were to partner with some larger communities.
“(But with just Black Diamond and Turner Valley), I don’t know if we would meet the criteria to host them because of the lack of facilities in the near vicinity,” he said.
The Alberta Winter Games take place every two years. This year, Lakeland Region — a partnership among the Town of Bonnyville, the MD of Bonnyville, the City of Cold Lake and CFB 4 Wing Cold Lake — hosted the 2010 Alberta Winter Games in February.
In order to submit a bid, the Town must submit a letter outlining the community’s interest in bidding to host the Games, as well as a resolution of support from the town council. The deadline to apply for the 2014 Games is March 31, 2011.
