Athletes’ home away from home
Posted Feb 10, 2011 11:51:27 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Several of Halifax’s downtown buildings have been transformed to make a home away from home for Canada’s best young athletes during the 2011 Canada Winter Games.
The World Trade and Convention Centre is at the center of the Athletes’ Village with pedways connecting it to Scotia Square and the four hotels housing the competitors.
The centre has been outfitted with an internet cafe where the youths can connect to friends and family back home. It has a games room with foosball and an air hockey tables, big-screen television sets and a vintage Pac-Man video game.
Melissa MacKinnon, director, communications and community relations says the centre is rife with postcards with encouraging messages.
“All throughout the village you can see the postcards with their messages for the different teams,” said MacKinnon. “This one says ‘Good luck. I’m not sure you need it though, because Nova Scotia rocks.'”
The polyclinic will function as a miniature hospital, treating everything from concussions to strains and sprains. There’s a small infirmary and a triage centre as well as a physiotherapist, an athletic therapist, a massage therapist and a chiropractor on staff.
Dietician Angela Dufour says the dining hall will see athletes grazing almost non-stop. It’s open from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. and full of nutritious options geared for an athletic diet. But there’s some fun stuff too.
“There’s a really neat pizza station that they can actually go to and see the pizza coming out of the oven,” said Dufour. “There’s a made-to-order pasta bar so they can make their own pasta dish.”
The athletes are being housed at the Delta Barrington, Delta Halifax, the Marriott and the Prince George hotels. Each room has two double beds plus a set of bunk beds.
“It will be interesting to see how the athletes decide who gets the hotel beds and who get the bunk beds but we’re going to leave that up to the athletes to figure out,” said Bill Moore, volunteer chair of athletes’ services.
