In four months, the new Pan Am Centre in Markham will home to four Pan Am Games events, including swimming and badminton.
Janis Cookson’s gold medal hangs in her office at the centre and she’s hoping the new facility strikes gold this summer.
“It’s not too small, it’s not too big, I think it’s the perfect size for this community.”
Coach John MacPherson saw the venue for the time on Thursday. He works with para-athletes and likes what he sees.
“I have never seen anything more exciting.”
The building has wide hallways, accessible change rooms and seating areas for para-athletes and spectators.
Badminton and table tennis will be played in the gym, which features high ceilings. That means other elite tournaments can also be hosted here.
“The height is about 12.5 meters high which again will allow us to bring international events back to the city of Markham post Pan Am games,” says Markham’s Manger of Sport Janis Cookson.
There is also an Olympic sized pool, it’s the first in York Region and will host the water polo tournament. The pool has a state-of-the-art time keeping system and moveable bulkheads which divide the water into sections.
The facility cost nearly $76 million to build but that was several million under budget.
After the Pan Am games, the venue will be Markham’s first dedicated sport training facility for athletes of all levels.
