The Parks and Recreation Committee work plan, approved by council on Monday, could see a major provincial sporting event hosted in Cochrane in the next four years.
One of the three initiatives in the plan was investigating Cochrane's potential to host either an Alberta Summer Games, Alberta Masters Games or Alberta Winter Games.
Committee member James Darby floated the idea at the council meeting. Darby, who has been involved with the circumpolar Arctic Winter Games, hosted in the Northwest Territories last year and is working with Airdrie for its hosting of the Alberta Winter Games, said a successful bid of one of those events could come with a lot of positive spin offs to the town.
Susan Eymann, executive director with the Lethbridge Sport Council, said when the city hosted the Alberta Summer Games in 2012 the economic impact was estimated in the neighbourhood of $3.5 million compared to the total game cost of $1.4 million. Lethbridge is scheduled to host the games again in 2020 and Eymann is projecting the same cost/benefit ratio.
Due to the some 2,900 athletes and 6,000 spectators who attended the event, Eymann said the hotels and restaurants in the city were busy and so were area campgrounds.
The $1.4 million price tag is comprised of a variety of funding sources, including $370,000 from the provincial government, which includes a $70,000 culture grant. The City of Lethbridge has committed $250,000 – $100,000 as services-in-kind – to the host committee, but Eymann says she expects the gift-in-kind portion to increase by around $100,000. The remainder comes from sponsorships and fundraising.
Following the games there is also a $50,000 legacy grant provided by the province, which Lethbridge is using to support the city's sports organizations.
"It's the sport organizations that really benefit leading up to the games and after," she said citing increased participation and development.
But costs do vary, Grande Prairie spent closer to $2 million on the games and Fort McMurray laid down $4 million. Grande Prairie was jointed hosted with the county and the city contributed $200,000 to the cause and the county $100,000 – not including gifts-in-kind.
"The Fort McMurray budget you can ignore," Eymann said. "They have more money than the rest of us."
The cost to host an Alberta Winter Games is similiar if Airdrie's projections are any indication. The city is set to host the 2020 event and the host committee has budgeted just shy of $2 million. The city itself has committed $300,000 in grant, facility rental fee waivers and other gifts in-kind to the event. The province's contribution is the same as its support to the summer iteration of the event.
On the lower end of the cost spectrum is the Alberta Masters Games, which is being hosted in its inaugural year in Rocky Mountain House this August.
While the host committee didn't feel comfortable releasing the projected cost just yet, Lisa Tchir, with the host committee, said they are planning a major concert event to coincide, which will elevate costs compared to if they were just hosting the games.
Laura Button, communications coordinator with the Town of Rocky Mountain House, said council has committed $75,000 to the games, which has been matched by the County of Clearwater, which is a joint host. Another $8,100 has been spent on legal fess for sponsorship agreements and to conduct an economic impact study.
Button added council was in support of the host bid because it aligned with the town's strategy of trying to promote the community as a tourist destination.
The event is expected to draw 1,200 athletes and their families.
The Parks and Recreation Committee's work plan does not commit the town to hosting one of the events, Darby said it simply gives them the opportunity to determine if Cochrane would be capable of doing so and if not what would be needed.
