Old Town prepares for 10,000 visitors SEDNA groups hear Pan Am plans

Dennis Hanagan —

Artist rendering of CIBC Athletes Village.

Artist rendering of CIBC Athletes Village.

Downtown community and business groups east of Yonge are planning ways to take full advantage of the fact living quarters for 10,000 participants in the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am games will be right on their doorstep.

Athletes, coaches and team officials from 41 countries across the Americas and the Caribbean will pour into the 80-acre CIBC Athletes Village next to the Don River in Toronto’s waterfront district.

The Pan Am games run July 10-26 and the Parapan games from Aug 7-14. Leading off the games will be a May-to-July torch relay.

The South East Downtown Networking Alliance—composed of resident, business, arts and institutional groups—met Jan. 30 at St. James Cathedral to discuss ways to use the games to bring wide-scale attention to their communities.

Ideas include arts festivals, “pub hubs” where people can gather in their communities to follow the games, lighting up the Queen Street bridge over the Don, producing guides so athletes can visit neighbourhood sites, getting school children and rec centres involved, a concert series in St. James Park, and local restaurants featuring food and live entertainment from around the world.

It’s expected 250,000 visitors will tail the athletes to Toronto and will want to be near their Village. Game venues include the Rogers Centre, Ryerson Athletic Centre, University of Toronto sports fields, and Varsity Stadium.

The St. James meeting included representatives from Corktown, the Distillery District, Evergreen Brickworks, the St. Lawrence neighbourhood, Riverside, Collective of Black Artists, Jamii Esplanade, Toronto’s First Post Office, YMCA, Young People’s Theatre, Daniels Spectrum Artscape, and the West Don Lands Committee. Also represented were Dixon Hall, More than Gold, Blue Rhino Design, Centres d’Accueil Heritage, Parent Resources Drop-in, The Healthy Road, and the churches of St. James, St. Paul’s, Little Trinity, and Metropolitan United.

SEDNA’s steering committee will meet again April 10.