Officials break ground on Pan Am Games athletics stadium

Ground officially broke on the new state-of-the-art CIBC Pan Am and Parapan Am Athletics Stadium at York University.

It will have a 400-metre track and an infield that supports throwing and jumping disciplines, as well as a scoreboard, professional broadcast capabilities, athlete change rooms, equipment storage, classroom space, as well as permanent seating for 3,000 spectators with an additional 2,000 temporary seats. At Games time, seating for 12,500 spectators will be available.

The fully accessible stadium is designed for certification by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as a Class 1 track suitable for hosting Olympic and other top-tier competitions.

Overall project costs are anticipated at $45.5 million, which includes the $34.9 million to design, build and finance the project. The rest of the budget will go towards capital expenditures for equipment, transaction fees, project management, and other ancillary costs. The project is on budget and construction is underway.

Earlier this fall, Infrastructure Ontario awarded the contract for the athletics stadium to Ontario Sports Solutions (ONSS) through a public tendering process. The consortium consists of developers and constructors Bouygues Building Canada Inc. and Kenaidan Contracting Ltd., as well as the design team of Cannon Design, FaulknerBrowns Architects, Arup and Morrison Hershfield.

ONSS is also responsible for the Milton Pan Am and Parapan Am Velodrome, Hamilton Pan Am Soccer Stadium and track resurfacing at three City of Toronto sport facilities.

Located adjacent to the city-operated Toronto Track & Field Centre, the athletics stadium will officially open in July 2014. The track and field centre will serve as an athlete training and warm-up facility during the Games. The City of Toronto is replacing the centre’s indoor and outdoor tracks in time for the Games, as well as those at Birchmount Stadium and Centennial Park Stadium.

TO2015 will issue its first quarterly budget update on Nov. 20.

DCN NEWS SERVICES