- New York stadium will have a student focus once games are over.
With the groundwork being laid out for the Pan American Athletics Stadium, new details about the stadium have been released regarding its uses after the games.
The 17th Pan American Games are a major international multi-sport event, scheduled to occur in Toronto on July 10–26, 2015.
Jennifer Myers, director of sports and recreation at York says after the Pan Am games, the facility is going to belong to the university. She says the university is planning to maximize the stadium for student use.
“But part of the agreement, since the government put in over half of the cost of the building, is to support the usage of the facility for high-performance athletes,” says Myers. “We’re working on the logistics of the agreement with Athletics Canada.”
Opened in 1979, the current Track and Field Centre is home to the York Lions Track and Field team and the track club, and is used by both professional and amateur athletes in Toronto.
Myers believes these athletes will use the new stadium during the spring and summer months.
“It gives us a space in terms of outdoor tracks to run a lot of things we might not be able to do,” adds Myers. “It’s giving us more change room space, as we have a lot of teams that play outdoor sports that don’t have dedicated change rooms.”
The Pan Am stadium is going to be certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations as a Class 1 track, suitable for hosting Olympic and other top-tier competitions, and will include a 400-metre track.
It will include an inner field that will be able to support sports like shot put and a state of the art scoreboard.
The current Track and Field Centre is not part of York, but is operated and programmed by a committee with members representing the City of Toronto, the university, and the track and field community.
“In our current stadium, athletes have to move their gear out,” she adds. “It’s going to give those teams some more dedicated team room space, and give us an opportunity to bolster what we already have.”
Myers says the building itself can also be used for kinesiology practicums and student orientation events that can utilize the stadium’s video board.
Student clubs, intramurals, and varsity athletics will all use the stadium.
“We are working very hard to carve out lots of time for general student access,” she says.
Myers was unable to provide details regarding the long-term operating costs the stadium will have on the school once the Pan Am and Parapan Am games are over.
“It fits nicely into our operational model that already exists, but It’s going to take us a couple years to really understand what the operational costs are,” says Myers.
“A lot of it now is speculation, it’s all really going to depend on the usage. From a manpower standpoint, it’s not high.”
The stadium will require staff members including custodial and groundskeepers to maintain the building.
The federal government paid for about 60 per cent of costs of construction. Myers says that it was a unique opportunity for York to have a building of this magnitude for a much more reasonable cost.
“It will make a difference for our coaches and their recruitment of athletes. It’s sending a message to the rest of the conference and across the country that we’re serious about this,” says Myers.
Construction of the building has been progressing according to plan, with the track to be laid out next spring, and exterior currently being erected.
After the construction of the stadium, an expansion of Tait Mackenzie Centre is also planned.
