Pan Am stadium progressing

Hamilton’s soon-to-be Pan Am soccer stadium is about half way to being finished. And the project managers say its still on budget. Thursday, the media had a chance to get inside the gates and check out the progress.

Elise Copps has the story.

We’ve been able to see the stands slowly creeping up over that tall fence around the site and we were allowed inside to get a upclose look. It was pretty windy up there in the stands, three storeys high, but the view was definitely worth it.

Ian Troop is CEO of Toronto 2015 Pan Am games: “Hamilton’s getting ready. This is part of realizing this is coming. Only in a year and a half.”

It’s almost half way there. Finally starting to look like a stadium. Each addition bringing the ultimate goal into focus.

Troop: “It’s far enough along, you really can envision what the future looks like.”

Crews have been working for nearly a year to turn the former Ivor Wynne stadium into a venue worthy of international althletes and die hard sports fans.

Jason Fellen is Senior Director of Capital Projects for Toronto 2015: “The amenities and the fan experience are going to be just so much better for folks in the City of Hamilton.”

Better for fans of both soccer, and football. Stands reaching over 30 metres into the sky. A field that runs north to south for faster game play. And thirty premium spectator suites for cheering in style.

Still on the ‘to-do list’, choosing the furniture. They have 8 different seats to choose from, to make those luxury boxes as comfy as possible. Not that people will be relaxing.

Fellen: “80 per cent of the seats are within sight of the goal line so you get spectacular views of the field of play, and you’re closer to the action.”

Features aimed at putting Hamilton on the map when tens of thousands of fans descend on the city to watch world class soccer.

Troop: “This facility will be an international site for soccer for decades to come.”

The project is on time and on budget now, but there are still several months to go before the target completion date of July 30, 2014. The city has already contributed its share of the funding, about a third at $50 million. And if the project goes over time or over budget, Hamilton won’t be on the hook. Any additional costs will have to be eaten by higher levels of government.