Work to erect the main tent for the 2007 Canada Winter Games began this week on the new and recently paved downtown waterfront development.

Chris Morrissey, general manager for the host organization, said today it will take Marsh Lake Tents and Events four to six weeks to complete the work.

'There is an official name for the venue, the sponsor's name, but we will be announcing that in the next couple of weeks,' he told the Star.

'The sponsor's contribution is going toward the general coffers for the Games, but they have bought the naming rights for the facility,' Morrissey said.

The venue will be used for the Feb. 23 opening ceremony and the March 10 closing ceremony, each to run about two hours in length.

It will also be the site of the Seven Day Festival, featuring artistic and cultural displays and performances beginning Feb. 28.

Morrissey said it was necessary to keep the festival to seven days, and put it in the middle of the Games to provide enough time to reconfigure the tent after the opening, and before the closing.

There will be a variety of displays and performing stages during the festival, he said.

Marsh Lake Tents and Events was the only Yukon company among the three that bid on the project, and was awarded the work for slightly over $360,000.

It is the same model of tent that was erected in Fort McMurray, Alta., for the 2004 Arctic Winter Games.

Morrissey said the tender to provide heating for the massive structure over the two weeks has not gone out, but expects the cost to come it at between $75,000 and $100,000 to cover both the heating equipment and the fuel.

'We are installing approximately 3,200 to 3,500 bleacher seats, and about 1,800 seats will go down on the floor of the structure.'

The tent is 44,800 square feet in size, measuring 160 feet wide (49 metres) by 280 feet long (85 metres long), and 66 feet high (20 metres).

By comparison, the Air North hangar is large enough to hold one Boeing 737 aircraft, while the waterfront tent will be large enough to hold four 737s. It's 1 1/4 times the size of the outside wall dimension for the Takhini Arena.

It requires a million pounds of concrete anchoring to secure the structure.

Morrissey said he doesn't expect to fire up the facility for a test run until after Christmas.

The host society had initially toyed with the idea of installing an ice surface inside the tent, which would then serve as the primary hockey venue and would permit the Games to be completed in the normal time frame, Morrissey explained.

But with the cost and risk associated with putting in the temporary sheet inside a tent something that has yet to be done and with the Canada Games organization consenting to extend the Whitehorse Games by one day, a fifth ice sheet was no longer necessary, he said.

On the day of the opening ceremonies, for instance, the only sport that will be under way is ringette, he pointed out. He added that on the day of the closing ceremonies, the gold and bronze medal hockey games will be the only events.