Grande Prairie’s bid for the 2018 Alberta Summer Games will be headed up by a well known local businessman. Lionel Robins is the CEO of Revolution Auto Group and has lived in the Swan City for most of his life. He has also participated in the games himself, coaching the Zone 8 football team.
“I really enjoyed my time with it, so when they asked me to kind of get involved on the organizing side it was a no-brainer. Football and sports in general is a big part of my life and also our commitment from a business to support so I guess they want my finance mind or something to get involved and help with the bid process.”
The City and County are putting together a joint bid to play host to 3,000 young athletes from across the province. Robins believes having the games come back to the region will be a benefit to the community.
“Obviously there’s a huge economic impact for all of our local businesses, especially the hospitality, the restaurants, the hotels. It just puts us back on to a provincial stage and kind of gets people to remember we’re up here in the north, and as well it’s great for the kids to be able to host in our own zone.”
The last time Grande Prairie hosted the event was in the summer of 2000. Events like it are largely run on gifts-in-kind and volunteer hours, but Robins has seen other games have budgets of more than $2 million.
The bid is due by November 11th, with the host community expected to be named in December.