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Jodi Lundmark, tbnewswatch
Special Olympic provincial winter games chair J.P. Levesque and Special Olympic Ontario president and CEO Glenn MacDonell are excited to bring the games to Thunder Bay in 2011.
This summer Thunder Bay Police Service deputy chief J.P. Levesque experienced the closing ceremonies of the summer Special Olympics in Windsor, Ont.
"The room was just electric," he said. "It was very moving actually. It was quite an event to be at."
In January 2011, he hopes to recreate the feeling in Thunder Bay when the city hosts the provincial winter Special Olympics.
From Jan. 20 to 23, more than 400 athletes, coaches and spectators will flock to the city for the event that will see people with intellectual disabilities compete in Nordic and alpine skiing, figure skating, snowshoeing, curling and speed skating.
Levesque said the event will be exciting for the city in a few different aspects.
"The athletes themselves and their supporters and coaches, they’re just great people to be around," he said, adding the economic spin off of the Olympics will be somewhere between $950,000 and $1 million.
"We’re looking at anywhere from 400 to 500 people coming to our city, using our venues, restaurants and hotels and whatnot," Levesque said.
President and CEO of Special Olympics Ontario Glenn MacDonell said 80 per cent of funds raised end up getting spent back into the host communities. He also said the spirit of the games often invigorates the community.
"You don’t want Special Olympics to be just the games," he said. "You want Special Olympics to be seen like minor hockey or minor baseball or anything else that exists in your community. We want people to feel in Thunder Bay that they’re part of the movement. They’re not the second thumb on a hand; they’re part of the hand."
This is the first time the provincial games will be held in Northwestern Ontario and with former host communities like Cornwall, Owen Sound and Timmins, Thunder Bay will feel like a major centre for the Special Olympics, MacDonell said.
"It’s not a case that this is something we haven’t done because we didn’t want to do it; it’s something we should be doing," he said. "There’s no question in my mind Thunder Bay is a fantastic sports setting with fantastic facilities. You’ve got everything here that we’d ever need."
The events will take place at the Fort William Gardens, Loch Lomond ski hill, Kamview Nordic Centre, Delany arena and the Legion Track.