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The Mattamy National Cycling Centre is a
track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...
facility in Milton, Ontario, Canada built for the
2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...
.Proposed Velodrome for Milton
During the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games the venue was known as the ''Cisco Milton Pan Am / Parapan Am Velodrome''.


Description

The
velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...
is the first-ever UCI-regulated, class 1 indoor velodrome in Canada, and only the second in North America along with the
VELO Sports Center The VELO Sports Center is a velodrome located in Carson, California, United States. It is currently the only cycling track of its kind located in the United States. Formerly known as the ADT Event Center or LA Velodrome, it opened in 2004 on the ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. It features a 250-metre timber track with two 42-degree angle banks. During the games the velodrome had 2,500 seats. After the games the velodrome became the home of Cycling Canada’s national track cycling program, with the seating being reduced to 1,500. The facility also includes community recreational space including a cardio and strength training fitness centre, group fitness studio, 300 metre walking/jogging track and three sport courts for volleyball, basketball, and badminton.


Financing & Opposition

The facility was originally scheduled to be built at Mohawk College in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
, however the city withdrew after its
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
voted to spend a maximum of only $5 million. In October 2011, Milton council was given six weeks by organizers to sign a binding agreement. "We only have six weeks for binding agreement. That’s not enough time for public feedback and that makes me nervous," said Ward 8 Councillor Zeeshan Hamid. On January 31, 2012 Milton town council voted in favour of building the velodrome in their town. The facility costed a total of $56 million to build (with $47.4 million to build/design the facility and the rest going to operation costs after the games have finished). Milton paid 44 percent of the cost to build the velodrome ($25 million), which will come from the town itself, the proposed Milton Education Village and private donations. The rest ($31 million) came from the
Toronto Organizing Committee for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games The Toronto Organizing Committee for the 2015 Pan Parapan American Games (TO2015) (french: Comité d’organisation des Jeux panaméricains et parapanaméricains de 2015 à Toronto - TOR2015) was a non-profit organization responsible for producing ...
. After
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
failed to sustain its track cycling venue from the
1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...
, some Milton residents and town councillors questioned the long-term viability of such a facility in Milton after the
2015 Pan Am Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
. "There’s a lot of suppositions," said Councillor Rick Malboeuf. "This could happen, that could happen. The business plan doesn’t make sense." Malboeuf was convinced history will repeat itself in Milton. Communities such as Hamilton and Vaughan passed on the Pan Am velodrome, he pointed out. "They had a good reason. It’s such a highly specialized sport. Where are the regular participants and events going to come from after the games are over? Just like the other venues like Montreal, this one will sit empty." As to his constituents, he said, "Twenty to one, they’re against it. They want to know why we’re worried about a velodrome when we don’t even have a hospital. That’s what they want. But it’s going to get done. They have the votes. I’m still not going to vote for it." In June 2013 Milton Mayor Gord Krantz said "We are committed. Some of us may not like how this has evolved, but we are at least in my opinion, at the point of no return." He said, down the road, he hopes he can hold Malboeuf accountable to his words that he be the first to stand up and say he was wrong should the project turn out to be a success. "I predict he will. He’s a man of his word and I believe he’ll say he’s wrong," said Krantz. According to Community Services Director Jennifer Reynolds, the initial $40 million price tag was expected to be covered by the following sources listed in a 2011 staff report: *$19.8 million from the "host" community *$3.8 million from the town (mostly funded from development charges) *$7 million from Mattamy Homes President and CEO Peter Gilgan *$2 million from naming rights (ultimately Mattamy Homes) *$3 million from a local fundraising campaign *$2.5 million from the education village partner (not confirmed) *$1.5 million from in-kind capital Total: $39.6 million Initial construction costs were announced as being $40 million, but ballooned to $56 million before work began. "I said back then it couldn’t be built for $40 million and I was told I was wrong and now we’re seeing the cost will be more like $56 million and a shovel hasn’t even hit the ground yet," said Malboeuf. The breakdown evolved to: *$38.4 million Sport Canada (Government of Canada) share *$17.6 million Milton's "local share" commitment (capped) **$3.6 million Town's portion of this local share, mostly funded from development charges **$14.0 million raised through a fundraising campaign. The Town's portion of $3.6M has been re-directed from the budget for the Sherwood Community Centre which would have opened in 2015/2016. By legislation, recreation development funds are only available for use on recreational facilities (not roads, hospitals, or fire services). Velodrome facilities in Winnipeg for the
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
(demolished) and
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
(dismantled and re-located to Europe) Pan Am Games no longer exist. In February 2013, it was revealed that early construction of roads and additional site costs had caused the total project cost to mushroom to $63 million. The Milton velodrome's legacy funding for maintenance and operation of the facility has been referred to as "smoke and mirrors" by opponents. In June 2013 the legacy funding was announced as being $735,850 annually for 20 years commencing in 2014. The legacy grant amount will be revisited on an annual basis after the initial three years over the minimum 20-year life of the Legacy Fund. A 2016 Velodrome Operating Forecast released in 2013 showing anticipated revenues versus expenditures projected a net loss of $410,499.


Incorporation Into Education Village

The Town's plan to have the velodrome anchor the proposed future Wilfrid Laurier University in the Milton Education Village took a hit in May 2015 when the province rejected Laurier's pitch for the satellite campus on the site. The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities says there will be a second call for proposals in spring 2016, for a campus in the Peel and Halton region — which includes Milton. Laurier's president said the school does intend to resubmit its proposal. On October 26, 2016, Ontario announced it will build new university campuses in Milton and Brampton as part of a larger plan to improve access to education in underserved areas of the province. At the announcement in Milton, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development
Deb Matthews Deborah Drake Matthews is a former Canadian politician who served as the 10th deputy premier of Ontario from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Liberal Party, Matthews was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for London North Centre from 2003 ...
said the facilities will focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).


Community Usage

In a September 2016 Town of Milton staff report, track cycling numbers at the local velodrome exceeded the Town's expectations, with waitlists for track time continuing to grow: * 9,205 participants in registered cycling programs, with a further 1,213 on waitlists * 29,677 visits to drop-in cycling sessions * 8,301 bike rentals * 3,781 riders certified on the track * 100 per cent of bike lockers rented, with 131 people waitlisted * 2,826 walking/jogging track members * 5,581 hours rented or programmed in the gym courts, with an average of 15 participants per hour In 2016, the net operating cost per capita for the MNCC is sitting at $4.03 – the second lowest of the major Town facilities, with the Leisure Centre sitting at the bottom of the list at $2.95. The Milton Sports Centre is $5.48, Beaty Branch Library is $6.10 and the Milton Centre for the Arts leads the pack at $6.19 (excluding the library). Ward 4 councillor Rick Malboeuf, said the legacy funding of $735,000 the Town receives from the provincial and federal governments to offset the operating costs of the velodrome aren't included in the aforementioned per capita cost breakdown. If they were, he estimated it would increase the per capita cost from $4.03 to around $12. But councillor Rick Di Lorenzo, who sits on the MNCC Management Committee, contended that since the legacy funds include federal dollars and are therefore paid by all Canadians, not just Miltonians, including those funds in the calculations would only increase the per capita cost by two cents.


Major competitions hosted


See also

*
Venues of the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games The 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games venues were mostly located in the host city of Toronto, Ontario, though some events required facilities located elsewhere. Besides Toronto, fourteen other municipalities in Southern Ontario hosted competit ...
*
List of cycling tracks and velodromes This is a list of cycling tracks and velodromes for track cycling worldwide. Velodromes currently in use Indoor: all the structures are closed inside Outdoor: the velodrome is uncovered and in open air. Outdoor, fully covered: all the structures ...


References


External links


Official Website

Toronto 2015 Cisco Milton Pan Am / Parapan Am Velodrome Page

City of Milton velodrome page
{{2015 Parapan American Games venues Milton, Ontario Venues of the 2015 Pan American Games Venues of the 2015 Parapan American Games Velodromes in Ontario Sports venues in Ontario