Where it all began
1999 Pan Am Games
Eighteen years ago, Winnipeg hosted its largest ever event: the 1999 Pan Am Games. 18,000 volunteers made the Games one to remember, as they hosted 5,000 athletes and coordinated 300 events in 35 sports.
They were a rejuvenation for the city and provided Winnipeg with a skilled cohort of volunteers with which to bid on and host more major events; sporting and otherwise.
Pan Am Legacy Fund
The Pan Am Games Legacy Fund began with the goal of helping the high performance sport community in Manitoba flourish in the many years following the ’99 Games. This year, the Legacy Fund is set to return its three millionth dollar to Manitoba’s high performance sport community.
While the majority of cities are indebted after a Games event, the Pan Am Games continues to fund and profit high performance sport in Manitoba, some 18 years after its closing ceremonies.
Every year, CSCM’s budget benefits from a contribution of between 15 and 20 per cent coming from the Pan Am Legacy Fund. The Centre’s ability to service Manitoba’s elite athletes is one of the long-term benefits the ’99 Games left to the City of Winnipeg, and specifically to high performance sport in the province.
The Canadian Sport Centre Manitoba was founded two years before the Games, on March 27, 1997. |