Hamilton will challenge New Delhi and Singapore for the right to stage the 2010 Commonwealth Games. But winning votes at next fall's meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation may not be the hardest task facing Canada's Steeltown. The big challenge looms at home — where to stow visitors in a city where smokestacks are more prominent on the skyline than hotels.

Then again, Hamilton can follow a great role model: the industrial city of Manchester, England held the most successful and hospitable Commonwealth Games in history last summer.

Hamilton, where the original British Empire Games started in 1930, was picked over Halifax yesterday as Canada's 2010 candidate in a unanimous vote by the directors of Commonwealth Games Canada.

Hamilton had the edge over Halifax in seven of the 10 criteria, said the co-chair of Hamilton's bid, Jagoda Pike, with its biggest advantage being in facilities.

Hamilton's budget is $382-million for capital and operating costs, about $93-million less than Halifax's projections. The federal, provincial and municipal governments are expected to share the bulk of the costs, with the private sector also becoming a partner.

"This feels fantastic," said Pike, who is the publisher of The Hamilton Spectator. She will stay on as a member of the bid's organizing committee.

"It's been a seven-month long road. We were told at the beginning seven months was not enough time, but we got the bid put together and I'm pleased as punch." The Halifax committee worked almost two years on its bid.

The Hamilton bid boasts more than $186-million in new and revamped sports facilities. These include either a new $125-million main stadium, or $75-million worth of renovations at Ivor Wynne Stadium, the centrepiece of the original games.

Some 5,000 athletes, coaches and technical officials would be housed at the spruced-up residences at McMaster University.

But accommodating visitors, media and others will call for some creativity, including a page taken from the 2004 Athens Olympic organizers — cruise ships on Hamilton Harbour.

"There's some hotel capacity and there will be more by the time these Games roll around in 2010," Pike said. A 350-room Marriott Hotel, to be completed in 2004, will join the city's best-known hotels, the Sheraton, the Royal Connaught Howard Johnson and the Ramada Plaza.

It's still not a large inventory, but events will be spread out and so will the fans' rooms.

"One of benefits is the strength and size of the region," Pike said. "Look at the scope of the Golden Horseshoe — the Niagara and Toronto communities will come into play, too."

Rowing, for instance, would be held at the St. Catharines, Ont., Henley course if the sport is included in the Games.

Hamilton can be considered a favourite in the three-horse race. It will arguably be the "turn" for a city in the Americas region after Games in Asia (Kuala Lumpur 1998), Europe (Manchester 2002) and Australia (Melbourne 2006). Canada last held the Games in 1994 at Victoria. If New Delhi wins, it would be the first time the Games will be held in India.

Apart from being able to draw on Canada's most densely populated region for ticket sales, Hamilton's bid also benefits from political clout. Not only is Sheila Copps the local member of Parliament, but she is Heritage Minister, the portfolio that oversees amateur sports. Cam Jackson, the former Ontario cabinet minister responsible for sports, is from nearby Burlington, and his successor in the portfolio, Frank Klees, has already pledged provincial support for the Hamilton bid.

"We already have municipal commitment," Pike said. "The next stage is to sit down with the province and formalize support, and then make it a tripartite agreement [with the federal government] by late January or early February."

Pike noted the Manchester Games had a significant economic impact, creating some 6,000 jobs in the period before the Games. Hamilton bid officials say that in Victoria, $194-million in operating and capital expenditure generated a total economic impact of $500-million and 2,700 full-time jobs.

Among other capital investments for the Hamilton bid:

Halifax promoters had been hoping a win at this level and the prospect of a new stadium would augur well for Canadian Football League expansion to the Maritimes.