THUNDER BAY – The winner of “Canada’s Favourite Ballpark” was announced earlier today with Thunder Bay’s Port Arthur Stadium coming up just short against London’s Labatt Park. The announcement was made by Baseball Canada at 10 a.m. earlier today.
A record number of votes were cast in the final round that began on August 23rd with over 19,000 votes recorded for the two week period. “Canada’s Favourite Ballpark” contest began with over forty submissions from all over Canada with Port Arthur Stadium making the final of two ballparks.
“Our city should be extremely proud of how close we came to winning the whole contest”, said Thunder Bay International Association President Larry Hebert. “I think this contest changed the way a lot of people think about Port Arthur Stadium…by coming as close to winning as we did, we showed ourselves, and the rest of Canada too, that Port Arthur Stadium is indeed one of Canada’s hidden gems, and deserves to be recognized as such.”
Indeed, despite finishing a heartbreaking second in the contest, it’s tough not to view this augural contest as a major win not only for Port Arthur Stadium, but also for the city of Thunder Bay.
“The contest has been a great promotional tool for baseball and sport in Thunder Bay”, stated John Cameron of the City’s Tourism Department. “Not only did we raise the profile of our stadium, I think we raised the profile of our city as well during this contest.”
The Thunder Bay International Baseball Association would like to thank all of the citizens and organizations that made this contest such a great success! A big thank you also goes out to the local media who helped raised awareness for this event.
“London’s Labatt Park is indeed one of the most historic baseball places in North America and it appears the citizens of London recognize that”, said TBIBA Vice President Jeff Halverson, “but at the same Thunder Bay boosters should celebrate what we collectively accomplished in this competition!”
