As Mexico rushes to finish building venues for the 2011 Pan American Games, officials from Toronto are keeping a watchful eye.
At least seven venues in the host city of Guadalajara are still under construction, with the games slated to start in October.
Mauricio Toussaint, the consul general of Mexico in Toronto, said on Wednesday that all three levels of government were "putting in all the efforts" to have facilities ready by the end of September.
Ian Troop, CEO of Toronto's 2015 Pan Am Games – the next after Guadalajara's – was quick to point out the lessons to be learned from the Mexican Games. "There's no doubt that at the front end of a four-year run like this, you've got to focus very hard on the long lead-time items and building is one of them," he said.
Ground is yet to be broken on any of Toronto's Pan Am facilities, however.
Representing Mexico, Mr. Toussaint joined Mr. Troop on Wednesday to announce a 100-day world countdown to the 2011 Games in Guadalajara, in the Mexican province of Jalisco.
It is a race to the finish line there: Mr. Toussaint told The Globe that the deadline to finish building is the end of September, just weeks before the event begins.
Mr. Toussaint said the rush of taxpayer money to finish the projects has been "a thing of debate" in Mexico, but that at the end of the day, "we don't see more debate" because of the benefits of hosting the games. He said that despite the long construction times, the Mexican Games are "running on budget."
Mr. Troop said that Toronto's Pan Am organizing committee is on time to complete facilities by 2014 – even though most new facilities don't even have builders yet.
"We expect to be in a position with the [request for proposal] process to break ground in the spring or summer of 2012," Mr. Troop said.
The only venue that is currently undergoing a request for proposal to build is the Athletes' Village on the West Don Lands; Mr. Troop expects ground to be broken on the project by the end of this year. No other requests for proposals have been issued.
Aside from the village, five major venues will be built or rebuilt in the Toronto area for the Games.
Two will take advantage of university campuses: An aquatic centre will be constructed at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus, and a track-and-field stadium will be built at York University's Keele campus.
Markham will become home to a water-polo pool and a field house for badminton. Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium will be largely refurbished, with hopes to meet FIFA soccer standards. There are also plans for a Velodrome – a cycling track – but "we're still working our way through that," said Mr. Troop.
The capital budget for the 2015 Pan Am Games is $700-million. Mr. Troop said current projections show the project to be "on budget and on time."
The Mexican organizing committee is projecting 10,000 volunteers will assist with Guadalajara's Games this year. Toronto is already projecting 20,000 volunteers will be needed in 2015.
Asked about this discrepancy, Mr. Troop said, "That's their business. ... There are some interesting cultural dynamics that make it very difficult in Mexico to get volunteers."
Guadalajara is expecting 5,900 athletes, while Toronto is constructing an Athletes' Village made for roughly 10,000. The village will also play host to coaches and other officials, which Mr. Troop said should make up the difference.