Prestigious international championships will cost about $20 million to stage.Prestigious international championships will cost city about $20 million to stage After years of trying, Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. has finally landed the 1995 Nordic World Ski Championships. It will be the first time the event has been held in Canada, and the first in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. in more than 40 years. About 370 athletes from between 27 and 30 countries will be competing in the games which are held every two years. Events include ski jumping ski jumping Skiing event in which contestants ski down a steep ramp curved upward at the end and launch themselves into the air for distance. Using a crouch position, skiers can achieve ramp speeds of 75 mi (120 km) per hour. , men's cross-country, women's cross-country, Nordic combined The Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping. History While Norwegian soldiers are known to have been competing in nordic skiing since the 18th century, the first major competition in Nordic combined was held and the biathlon biathlon (bīăth`lŏn), sport in which cross-country skiers race across hilly terrain, occasionally stopping to shoot with rifles at sets of fixed targets. The biathlon features the 10-km (6. . Allan Laakkonen Allan Laakkonen was city councillor for Red River Ward in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada from 2003 to 2006. He was one of the driving forces behind Thunder Bay's bid for the 1995 Nordic World Ski Championships. , chairman of the bid committee, says the championship will cost about $20 million to stage. Half of that amount will be spent on capital projects and the rest on operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. . The bid committee spent about $426,000 just to attract the games. Major commitments include $6.1 million for cross-country trails and facility development, a permanent media centre and a stadium, $2.2 million to enhance the 120-metre and 90-metre ski-jumping facilities and $2.9 million for Nordic combined support facilities. The funding for the games is coming from a number of sources, including $5 million from the province, $2 million from the federal government and $1.8 million from the city. Television will also generate another $1 million. Broadcasts will go across Canada Across Canada was an afternoon program that formerly aired on The Weather Network. The segment ran from early 1999 until mid 2002. The show ran from 3:00PM ET until 7:00 PM ET. and into the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Europe and Japan, depending on the deals that still have to be worked out. A marketing contract has a minimum guarantee of $3.2 million. At the 1989 championships in Finland the marketing contract generated $6 million in revenue. Laakkonen says the rest of the money will come from fundraising efforts. "Certainly we're going to break even," he says. Any excess funds will go into a trust account. "The economic impact on the city is approximately $37 million," adds Laakkonen. "That's, I think, a conservative estimate." He suggests that the benefits could be as much as $60 million, depending on a number of factors. Mayor Jack Masters John Gerald (Jack) Masters (born September 27, 1931 in Fort William, Ontario) is a former Canadian politician. He served as mayor of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and as a federal Member of Parliament. is a little less optimistic about the financial benefit to the city. "We're estimating an economic impact of up to $34 million." However, Masters sees the Nordic games The Nordic Games was the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and was held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden’s Central Association for the Promotion of Sports, and more specifically by Viktor as an important symbol of a new attitude of self-confidence in the city. "I can't envision us 15 years ago bidding for the games," he says. "If there is one common denominator common denominator n. 1. Mathematics A quantity into which all the denominators of a set of fractions may be divided without a remainder. 2. A commonly shared theme or trait. in Northern Ontario it is that we sell ourselves short." However, Masters believes Northern Ontario's self-confidence is improving as people realize that the region has clean air, affordable housing and a good lifestyle. "We have to stop saying we're not as good as the rest of the world," Masters adds. "In most cases, we're better." Laakkonen says the city had been working to get the games since 1983, before being successful in May. Five cities, including cities in Switzerland These are lists of cities in Switzerland. Municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants are considered to be "cities" (in German: Städte, in French: villes, in Italian: città). See Municipalities of Switzerland for a table of the largest and smallest. , Austria, Yugoslavia and Norway, were competing against Thunder Bay. Thunder Bay presented its first bid in 1985, notes Laakkonen, "and got blown out of the water." In 1988 the city again submitted a bid and lost to a Swedish city by three votes. Presentations are made to the International Ski Federation, which has 52 member nations. "The name of the city is certainly known internationally," Laakkonen observes. Thunder Bay's fame has also grown with the success of favorite son Steve Collins in ski jumping. The number of events held at Big Thunder also helped influence the decision. The city has hosted five Nordic combined events and 10 World Cup ski jumping events. "For a large part that was a reason for our success," Laakkonen says. The International Ski Federation was impressed with the quality of competition held in Thunder Bay. The fact that the city has never had to cancel an event was another positive factor. Other considerations were the site's close proximity to the city, the fact that all venues will be held at the same site and that accommodation in Thunder Bay is reasonably priced. There is also the ready availability of 400 to 600 experienced volunteers. In all, about 2,500 volunteers will be required for the championships. The city also had experience in gathering volunteers for the 1981 Canada games. "Once something like this happens, they really get behind it," says Laakkonen. For the championships the Big Thunder site will be expanded to include new viewing areas, a state-of-the-art media centre and an enlarged administrative centre. The event will attract about 1,200 members of the media from Europe, Japan, the United States and Canada. PRESTIGIOUS GAMES "The athletes, from what we're told, hold these championships in higher regard than the Olympics," Laakkonen says. He notes that, with Toronto unsuccessful in its attempt to attract the 1996 Olympics, the Nordic games will be the major sporting event in Canada this decade. Laakkonen says there is widespread support for the games. That support was substantiated by a survey conducted in the city. "The reading we got was about 85 per cent support it," he reports. He also believes that the games will be well attended. |
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