Pan Am Games Legacy

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It has been talked about for years and will cost taxpayers billions of dollars, but this summer’s Pan Am Games have also brought millions of dollars into the city. It is already providing the steel that will be used in the Cauldron for this summer’s Pan Am Games and today steel giant ArcelorMittal Dofasco announced it will also fund a ten year program that will allow innercity kids to play soccer for free. Sean Donnelly from ArceloMittal Dofasco says “Well we’re just thrilled to be able to support a program like this. For the children of this community again who didn’t have a soccer program to play in the very community we operate our plant.”

Today’s announcement is just the latest in a series of legacy projects associated with the Pan Am and Parapan Am games.

“Well in this area here we have the beautiful new stadium that we are in, but we are also building a brand new recreation seniors centre and we’re also building a brand new sports park. So those are the big legacy items in this area equalling over 200 million dollars.” said Greg Maychak, Manager, Pan Am Initiatives.

Add to that list a 66 million dollar go station, that may or may not be ready for the games.

Hamilton City councilor, Matthew Green adds “Infrastructure projects like this are a once in a lifetime thing I think the last time something like this happened in Hamilton was the 1930’s so this really was the catalyst. I fully recognize some of the ongoing challenges construction put on some of the local residents but I feel when all of this is all said and done this is something that we are going to be very proud of here in Hamilton.”