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Surrey Sports Museum fundraising led by athlete ahead of her 108th Ironman triathlon

City is moving forward with a virtual sports hall of fame for Surrey
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Elizabeth Model rides a bike during a recent Ironman triathlon in New Zealand. (Contributed photo)

** This story was updated at 10:55 a.m. Aug. 10

Elizabeth Model continues to dream about having a Surrey Sports Museum built in the city, to augment a “virtual” such facility that is in the works.

An athlete, Model is set to compete in her 108th Ironman triathlon in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, on Aug. 20, and this month she renewed fundraising efforts to create a sports museum, or hall of fame, to celebrate worthy Surrey athletes.

“I think Surrey is so far behind on their sports museum, and we just need to do something about it,” Model said Wednesday (Aug. 9).

“You know, as much as I travel, you start seeing these different sports museums and you realize that it just hasn’t really picked up here, and I know that Surrey is apparently working on it.”

In 2021 the city pitched the concept of a virtual sports museum, and those plans are now coming to fruition. Surrey intends to develop an online hall of fame “complete with stories, photos and videos of those who have helped shape a dynamic sports scene in Surrey,” Lisa White, the city’s manager of recreation services, wrote in an email to the Now-Leader.

“The virtual sports hall of fame will be supplemented, from time to time, through in-person activations at civic facilities including the Museum of Surrey. We expect to have more details in late 2023 regarding timelines associated with this initiative.”

Model would like to amplify a virtual museum with a bricks-and-mortar facility somewhere in Surrey’s City Centre area, where she is CEO of Downtown Surrey BIA (Business Improvement Association).

The idea for a Surrey Sports Hall of Fame was floated four years ago at a 2019 meeting of Surrey’s Parks, Recreation & Culture Committee. By the fall of 2021, a Model-launched endowment fund celebrated the completion of her 100th Ironman triathlon in Wisconsin. In June she ran, cycled and swam in Austria, and plans to do other Ironmans later this year, after the Quebec event.

As of Aug. 9 the Surrey Sports Museum Fund webpage (on surreycares.org) has collected close to $10,000 of the $100,000 goal, on the website of SurreyCares Community Foundation.

“I’d like to see something in Surrey similar to the BC Sports Hall of Fame, where they have it virtual and also as a place to visit, a stand-alone facility,” Model said. “It all takes money to build something like that, and I just want to be able to contribute to that and bring it to fruition.

“With the online fundraiser,” she added, “we just want to build the awareness of this project, to get the people of Surrey to buy into a collaborative, cohesive, forward-thinking effort.”

The website says the idea for a Surrey Sports Museum was the vision of the late Bill McNamara, a former Surrey firefighter, community advocate, volunteer, sports enthusiast and athlete. Model hopes that one of the museum’s first exhibits would acknowledge McNamara’s accomplishments.

The fund aims to celebrate “Surrey’s athletes who have demonstrated the mental fortitude and commitment to take their athletic performance to a high level,” the website says. “The fund intends to showcase, profile and inspire athletes who have roots in Surrey.”

The BIA’s recent Long Long Table community dinner raised funds for the museum initiative with a silent auction, Model noted.

“I’m behind this and so is the BIA as an organization,” she said. “We recognize that it’s important for our city, and it also provides a legacy for those people sometimes who aren’t mentioned in what is a very growth-oriented city. We just haven’t got a bigger handle on it like we should.”

In 2021, a report to Surrey city council described a virtual model for a Surrey Sports Hall of Fame as “a highly accessible” and “contemporary” venue to honour Surrey residents for outstanding achievements in sport. The “total estimated one-time cost” to establish a “SVHOF” is estimated at $400,000, the report noted.

“Exhibitions can include photos of individuals and teams, sports documentation as well as information,” the report continued. “Exhibitions can include audio recordings, video recordings as well as other content added over time such as digital documents, images of trophies, uniforms, medals, news articles and other information related to sports.

“In addition to being available from home, kiosks offer an option for in-facility experience. Large interactive screens could be installed in key recreation centres which host major competitions, for those attending games or practices.”



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news for Surrey Now-Leader and Black Press Media
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