“The North Island Economic Trust has approved our application,” VIMSS chair Rick Morson said. “They will give us a matching grant in the amount of $555,000.” The project is expected to cost $2.1 million.
The balance of the funding for the Mountain Sports Centre will have to be raised by VIMSS itself, Morson said. The Society has already received a land grant from Mount Washington Alpine Resort worth $250,000 as well as a donation of $15,000 from Rick Gibson of Royal Lepage. “This means it’s going to go forward,” Morson said. “There’s some things we still have to do, but this is a significant amount of funding for it.” The Mountain Sports Centre is the second phase of VIMSS’s infrastructure projects. The first phase saw some of the Nordic trails at Mount Washington upgraded, some lighting installed at the stadium area for biathlon and Nordic events, and a new trailhead created for Strathcona Provincial Park.
The first phase was completed in 2007 with grant money from the Olympic/Paralympic Live Sites Program, and allowed VIMSS and Mount Washington to host an IPC World Cup event. The Resort and VIMSS will host a second event in March 2009.