Venues for the Toronto-based 2015 Pan American Games will be arranged in eight clusters or hubs around Southern Ontario's Golden Horseshoe.
It is a move, Toronto 2015 CEO Ian Troop says, will improve transportation and security for the Games, cut costs for organizers and make it possible for spectators to take in more than one event in an otherwise spread-out Pan Ams.
"We will be able to maximize the Games experience while responsibly managing costs," Troop said on a conference call. "Work had been underway for more than a year to revise the venue footprint." He said the Ontario and federal governments and national sport bodies were partners that had to get some say in location, but that, in the end, badly needed sports infrastructure would be a legacy in Ontario.
Creating venues in clusters is something common to major multi-sport events. Troop said. At Bejing, for instance, swimming, diving and track were within walking distance of each other. It makes for more regular bus schedules, organizers said.
"This represent a fundamental shift in the planning of Toronto's Games," Troop said. He said clustering makes the Games more enjoyable and allows more use of the venues for different events. "We can maximize the Games experience while responsibly managing costs," Troop said.
Former rower Doug Hamilton, a member of the TO2015 board of directors, said placing venues together enables athletes to cheer on countrymen while killing time waiting for their own events. There will be more fans in one place "driving intimacy," he said.
"It's a strategy that athletes, coaches and other participants love very much," Hamilton said. Having cluster also makes for better, manageable financial affairs, Troop said of the event which is largely taxpayer-funded.
The Pan Am Games will still feature some stand-alone venues. Plans remain in place for equestrian events to be held at Caledon Equestrian Park, just northwest of Toronto, while Milton will vote next week on the approval of the cycling velodrome in the town just west of the city.
Friday's conference call came amid a growing chorus of criticism that the costs of the Games — funded by the province, the federal government, municipalities and other partners — will spiral out of control.
"I think we are very confident we can deliver a great Games within our budgets we've been provided for," Troop said.
He added construction of the athletes' village near Toronto's waterfront — which is separate from the $1.4-billion Games budget — is underway and on schedule.