WinSport has confirmed that $10 million in Alberta government funding was diverted away from a sliding track rehabilitation project and will help pay for a major renovation of its day lodge at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
The reallocation means that only $7 million in federal funding remains set aside for the $25 million track renovation project which was originally slated to begin in 2020 but was stalled indefinitely as WinSport sought the final $8 million to complete the build.
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WinSport said the track, which hosted sliding sports at the 1988 Winter Olympics, remains on its capital projects list. However, the day lodge was its first priority because it is critical to the organization’s year-round operations and future viability.
“The $17.5 million in provincial funding (for the day lodge) includes $10 million that had originally been committed from the Government of Alberta to support renovating COP’s sliding track to upgrade the refrigeration system to meet modern safety standards and allow the track to safely reopen for luge, skeleton, and bobsleigh athletes,” WinSport CEO Barry Heck said in an email on Thursday. “The sliding track project was only partially funded and WinSport has continued its efforts to raise the substantial additional capital that is needed to proceed with the project. To date, we have been unable to raise the required capital and with the time frame to use the $10 million from the Government of Alberta set to expire, there was no prospect of securing the funding and completing the project in the required time frame.
“In an effort to keep the funds for capital projects at COP, we worked with the Government of Alberta to reallocate the $10 million to the day lodge project, WinSport’s highest capital priority, instead of requiring us to return the funds,” Heck continued. “While we appreciate that this is difficult news for the sliding sports community, we are thankful that the Government of Alberta agreed to reallocate this money to serve hundreds of thousands of athletes and the community, instead of requiring us to return it.”
The day lodge renovation could cost as much as $43 million, depending on the design. The federal government recently committed $17.4 million to that project from a new pot of money; the Green & Inclusive Community Buildings program.
The sliding track is seen as critical to the operations of Luge Canada and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. Luge Canada broke the news of the $10 million diversion in a Thursday morning statement, prior to Heck’s confirmation.
“We were really counting on WinSport to step up and the leadership at WinSport to uphold their mandate and their commitment to the ‘88 legacy and that doesn’t seem to be a priority for them,” said Alex Gough, president of Luge Canada and an Olympic medalist. “It is a huge blow to sliding sports in Canada. The Calgary track was unique in that it is in a major centre. The track brought in a lot of athletes from other places. It is a huge detriment in terms of our grassroots. Trying to maintain any sort of grassroots program is near impossible now. Alberta Luge in particular will have to have a major rethink and rebuild and I’m not sure they survive this, so this leaves us with a much smaller pool of athletes going forward.
“It’s so devastating to see such a lack of leadership and vision from WinSport on how this track benefits the city as an integral part of the ’88 legacy.”
The Luge Canada statement said WinSport began demolishing the track in 2019 “without serving notice to its sport partners” and that WinSport’s lack of transparency over the diversion of funds to the day lodge is another disappointing development.
“WinSport has repeatedly reassured Canada’s sliding sports of its commitment to secure the additional funds required to complete the restoration project,” Luge Canada said. … “Removing the track from Calgary’s legacy of Olympic venues puts the future of our sport in Canada at serious risk.”
dbarnes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/sportsdanbarnes
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