The Kenai Peninsula could play host to nearly 2,000 athletes, coaches and officials from sites around the Arctic Circle if a bid by the Kenai Peninsula Borough to bring the 2006 Arctic Winter Games to the peninsula is successful.
On Monday, members of the Arctic Winter Games committee met at city hall in Soldotna to discuss the future of the borough's bid.
Four members of the peninsula bid committee recently returned from observing the 2002 Arctic Winter Games, held jointly in Nuuk, Greenland, and Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. Jack Brown, Andrew Carmichael, Pam Howard and Becky Foster returned with lots of ideas on how to strengthen the peninsula's bid. They discussed their findings with the committee, which then outlined a basic strategy for putting a successful bid together.
Carmichael, who also is the Soldotna Parks and Recreation director, said he doesn't see any reason why the peninsula couldn't host the games.
"We have everything we need here. We could definitely pull it off," Carmichael told the committee, following a brief overview of the facilities he saw at Iqaluit.
"It's doable from (a facilities) perspective," he said.
He said most of the event facilities needed already were available in Soldotna. The only sticking point might be the peninsula's lack of downhill skiing facilities, Carmichael said. He said ideas would be needed for where to hold the skiing events. He mentioned Cooper Landing and Homer as areas where a venue possibly could be built.
Howard and Foster told the committee what to expect as far as transportation and logistics planning.
"From the minute we stepped off the plane, the magnitude of the games was obvious," Howard said.
Foster and Howard said they spent most of their time shuttling between sports venues and cultural events. They stressed that an enormous volunteer effort was utilized at this year's games. Howard said volunteers would be essential to the success of the games and estimated as many as 3,000 would be needed.
"All the things they had (in Nuut and Iqaluit), we have currently," said Brown, business director for the Kenai Peninsula Borough's Community and Economic Development Division.
The positive effect the games could have on the area economy is the reason a bid is being put together. According to the Arctic Winter Games Web site, hosting the games can be quite profitable. The Web site estimates that Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, saw an estimated economic boost of about $4 million when it hosted the 2000 games.
The Arctic Winter Games pits athletes from nine Arctic countries, provinces, territories and states against one another. The games began in 1970 as a way for athletes from remote, northern regions to compete between themselves. That year, only Alaska and the Yukon and Northwest Territories participated. Today, the event has grown to include more that 1,600 athletes from Alaska, Canada, Russia and Greenland.
In addition to the economic benefits the games would provide, there are a host of cultural and community rewards the area could gain through hosting, Foster told the committee.
"The atmosphere at the athletes' village was wonderful. Getting to meet new friends from other countries was the best thing (for the kids)," Foster said.
Soldotna Mayor Dave Carey agreed the cultural benefits the games could bring to the community are as important as the dollars.
"We have a huge deficit in this community of us not knowing each other. This enlivens the community, and it doesn't just go away. That's why I want to see this," he said.
The committee discussed various strategies for enhancing the borough's bid application, which Brown said will likely be due in October. The group plans to hold another general meeting April 22, before splitting into smaller committees to handle specific planning and facilities issues.
Brown said that after the application is finished, a delegation from the international committee will visit the peninsula in December, and the winning bid will be announced shortly thereafter.
Carmichael said he's excited about the prospects of attracting the Arctic Winter Games. He said the committee is taking the bid effort seriously.
"They loan their games to you for two years, and they want to know that you'll give it back to them as good or better than when you got it," he said.
"The Kenai Peninsula is serious about hosting the Arctic Winter Games in 2006."
