Group woos Arctic Winter Games

WASILLA - It will take a lot of work, but in terms of impetus for building recreational facilities and community relations across the borough, as well as sheer dollars unloaded in the business community, it just may be worth it.

That was the consensus reached by the Mat-Su Arctic Winter Games bidding committee at a Thursday meeting. The committee met after several of its members returned from information-gathering visits to the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Among those attending were Jeff Johnson, representing the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce; Kari Sleight, representing the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce; Julie Saupe, representing the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau; Brad Hanson, representing the Palmer City Council; and Bruce Urban, representing the Mat-Su Borough. The group is hoping to have Mat-Su host the athletic event in 2006.

Urban, who studied the facilities which would be required to host the games, was cautiously hopeful in a memo distributed to the committee members.

There are facilities currently available in the Valley at which about 12 of the 18 sports could be scheduled. The facilities for the remaining six sports would either have to be upgraded and expanded, or new facilities would have to be constructed.

The Arctic Sports (Inuit Games and Dene Games) could take place in local school gymnasiums. Basketball, volleyball, wrestling, badminton and soccer could take place in gymnasiums, as could gymnastics.

Trails are available around the borough that could accommodate the dog mushing event as well as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, although Urban suggested that structures would need to be set up for judges and for pre- and post-race staging areas.

General consensus by those on the bidding committee seemed to be that Brett Memorial Ice Arena was not up to the standard which would be required to host any of the ice-related activities, such as speed skating, figure skating or hockey. The Meridian Ice Center, a twin-rink facility that two local entrepreneurs are currently planning, could handle at least two of the events, but a second rink would almost be necessary to effectively handle the demands made by the Winter Games attendees.

In Whitehorse, two twin ice arenas were available and still some teams were transported 98 miles to Haines Junction for some of the figure skating and all of the hockey events, although Urban said the measure was partially put forth by the host committee to get that area of the territory involved.

A curling facility would also be necessary in hosting the games. If it were not practical to build a facility, Urban suggested using another ice arena for the event.

That would only be possible if there were enough ice facilities to handle the other skating events, Urban wrote.

One of the other major facilities that would have to be available for the event is an alpine skiing and snowboarding facility.

The proposed ski resort at Hatcher Pass would either have to be actually developed or approved for development by the time the bid was submitted, Urban wrote.

If the Mat-Su area is to host the 2006 Arctic Winter Games, the host bid package would have to be submitted in March or April of 2002. By that date, all necessary facilities would need to be in place, or nearly so.

As more public support comes forward, there would be more impetus for [those currently planning recreational facilities] to move forward, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin said.

Financial issues are also of major concern to those on the bidding committee. The games in Whitehorse required a budget of $2.1 million, a large percentage of which was contributed by the Canadian Federal Government. Hanson, who studied some of the financial aspects of hosting the games, said it was unlikely to expect as much contribution from either the federal or state level.

John Rodda, who was the executive director of the host committee when the games were in Eagle river in 1996, reportedly told committee members that the state of Alaska had contributed $800,000 to the operating budget of the games at the time, and may be willing to contribute to the 2006 games.

The budget seems extensive, but a significant amount of the money came from in-kind donations, Johnson said. For example, the Norwestel telephone communications company contributed $100,000 in telephone services and equipment.

You cant write a check out of that money, Johnson said, but it was a vital contribution to the efficiency of the games.

Other items were brought up by committee members, but the groups overall consensus was that hosting the games would take a lot of dedication and hard work, but with a focused group spearheading the effort, it would bring a lot of benefits to the communities involved.

These games are ours if we want them, said Wasilla Chamber executive director Ed Brittingham. All we need is to put it together.