North Battleford has quietly bowed out of the running for the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games.
There had been preliminary interest expressed in the games by North Battleford city council earlier this year. The City had sent a letter of intent to games officials and had gone so far as to put out a call for a bid committee chair to step up to lead the effort.
Unfortunately, that was about as far as it got. A formal bid never did come up at council for approval in time for the Oct. 1 filing deadline.
Earlier this month it was announced Estevan, Humboldt, Swift Current and Melfort are the four finalists for the 2016 games.
All four have submitted formal bids. Site selection officials are expected to tour the four finalist cities in November.
It appears some bad luck played a part in why a North Battleford games bid did not come together in time. In speaking to reporters Tuesday, Mayor Ian Hamilton indicated one factor had to do with the Parks and Recreation Director Keith Anderson being on sick leave in the run-up to the bid deadline.
"I think probably that had something to do with our inability to meet the timelines and the guidelines for submissions," said Hamilton.
Despite that disappointment, North Battleford could still end up hosting a games of some sort in 2016.
Mayor Hamilton confirmed Battlefords Tribal Council is proceeding with a bid to host the Saskatchewan First Nation Winter Games for that year.
North Battleford had been slated as the locale for the 2012 First Nation Winter Games, but the then-host Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs, who were awarded the games, ultimately moved the venue to Saskatoon citing facilities concerns in the Battlefords and area. A major factor at the time, though, was that Credit Union CUPlex was not yet finished construction.
Before settling on a Winter Games bid, BTC had also looked into going after the 2015 First Nation Summer Games, which ultimately was awarded to Ochapowace First Nation.
Mayor Hamilton said the First Nation Winter Games would be a huge endeavour and pledged the city would assist wherever they could.
"Of course we will throw our support behind that," said Hamilton. "It's a great initiative, and we certainly welcome that occurring in our city."
