Buy a seat or plank in Pan Am velodrome
The Make It Happen campaign to fund the Milton Velodrome for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games is getting close to the finish line. The campaign is now calling on sponsorship from cycling fans across the country to make up the final portion of the funding.
The most publicized campaign is the Sponsor a Seat program. For $250 a donor can have a name engraved on a spectator seat at the new facility.
“The seat sale has been hugely successful, about half are sold already,” said Howard Chang, Chair of the Make It Happen Fundraising campaign. “As soon as people start understanding why we are building this national cycling centre, it’s easy to get involved. Kind Human and Cycle Solutions hosted events, and at both events, we sold over a dozen seats.”
Mose special events are being planned, and hope to include special guests well known in cycling, including Steve Bauer and 2015 Pan Am Chef de Mission Curt Harnett.
“We’re working on something with D’Orneallas and Gears, but have to pin down dates still,” said Chang, who has the support of 12 committee members to aid with the efforts. “Racer Sportif ran a ride last weekend and they’re looking at hosting a fundraiser in their store as well. La Bicycletta has also been in touch to work towards setting up an event.”
For those looking to support the velodrome at a lower cost, the option to buy a plank in the track surface for just $25.
“We wanted to make something really accessible for people. It could be a junior racer who might not have the $250 for a seat, but for $25 can get their name on this wall of fame online,” said Chang.
The new state-of-the-art facility is on target to be opened this fall.
“The capital campaign is a $14 million part of a $56 million project, but it’s a critical part of the project because the commitment to do this private fundraising was what got the town of Milton and the federal government to support this project. We have to make our commitment. We’re now only about $1 million away,” said Chang.
