State-of-the-art facility to add to York’s athletics
Jacqueline Perlin
Assistant News Editor
@jackieperlin
York is getting a new stadium for the upcoming 2015 Pan American games, to the tune of about $17.6 million to $20 million.
The new stadium, which will be built just south of the current Toronto Track and Field Centre, will replace the current East Office Building (EOB). It will cost approximately $40 million to $50 million, with York footing 44 per cent of the cost while the provincial and federal governments will subsidize the rest.
According to Gary Brewer, vp administration and finance of York, the university will be using its reserve cash balance to fund the 44 per cent that will be under a $20 million cap.
The cash balance, says Brewer, is funded from several sources such as student tuition, grants, and business operations that generates almost $1 billion in revenue for the university.
“[Forty-four per cent] is a number consistent across all the Pan Am games,” says Brewer, noting that all infrastructure associated with the Pan Am games receive a government subsidy of 56 per cent.
However, Robert Cerjanec, vp operations for the York Federation of Students (YFS), says he believes no student money should go towards the building of a track and field facility.
“[The YFS] doesn’t believe that this project should be funded through students’ money, but should be primarily funded through donations [and] the capital budget of the university,” says Cerjanec.
Cerjanec notes that the amount of student money that might be going towards the building project has not yet been clarified.
The new track and field centre will include seating for 12,500 for the duration of the Pan Am games period from July to August 2015, but only 5,000 of those seats will be permanent and will remain after the games have concluded.
Brewer explains the size of the stadium was determined by Toronto 2015, the organizers of the Pan Am games.
“This facility is not replicating, duplicating, or overlapping in any way what’s available in Tait McKenzie or the Rexall Centre,” says Brewer. “I think it’s fair to say that in terms of facilities on campus, athletics and recreation space is extremely rare, or we have a real shortfall of athletics and recreation space on campus.”
He even goes on to estimate that York probably ranks at the bottom for athletic space when compared to other universities across Ontario.
“It’s probably as severe as our library space shortfall,” says Brewer, noting that the current Toronto Track and Field Centre will also be lost due to the subway construction.
After the games conclude, the new facility will be serving student recreation and offer athletic space.
Cerjanec agrees that athletic space is an area of need on campus.
“Twenty-five years ago at York, enrolment was much lower than it is today and our athletic facilities have essentially stayed the same,” says Cerjanec, noting that spaces like Tait McKenzie are always at capacity.
Ravi Thiara, a fourth-year student at York who regularly uses the athletic space in Tait McKenzie, says that while there is a bit of a need for more athletic space on campus, the real issue is with where the athletic space is located.
“I think the main problem is that the [space] is located in a far corner of campus and people don’t want to make that journey all the way there,” says Thiara, citing a need for a central athletic facility.
The construction of the site is set to commence October 2012 and the area will be turned over to the project lead, Infrastructure Ontario. The stadium will be complete by 2014, well before the start of the Pan Am games.
Brewer also notes that the revenue, cost, and expenses associated with the games will be the responsibility of Toronto 2015.
“We’re not in the Pan Am games to get money,” says Brewer. The reward, he says, will be the establishment of a much-needed facility and the reputation associated with being part of the Pan Am games.
When asked if the construction of the new facility will cause a disruption on campus, Brewer says the project is not in a core area of campus but rather in the north area where subway constructions are already taking place.
He says the university will be developing the business plan over the next year.
