A Pan Am Games stadium on a west harbour site would mean a massive economic gust to revitalize Hamilton's economy, a business plan forecasts.

The draft Deloitte analysis says the city's $60-million investment in sports and recreation infrastructure would result in:

* $214 million in direct and indirect spending during construction of a 25,000-seat facility

* 1,750 jobs during construction

* Up to a $9.9-million annual economic impact from stadium operations after the 2015 Games

* Annual tax revenue of up to $1 million from development at the old Ivor Wynne Stadium site.

"There hasn't been this kind of opportunity in this city in 40 years," Mayor Fred Eisenberger said. "The Pan Am Games are a rare chance to leverage that $60 million to up to $200 million in facilities and connect with other transportation and development initiatives."

Eisenberger said the Deloitte findings are as exciting as winning the bid.

But Councillor Sam Merulla, a persistent critic of city spending, says the documents released yesterday don't show any private-sector partners stepping up to contribute the $50 million necessary to increase the stadium size from 15,000 in the Pan Am bid to 25,000 for the Tiger-Cats football club.

"We're now in a situation of having to make the best of a bad fiscal decision," he said.

Merulla said he has always supported the city subsidizing the Tiger-Cats, but wonders where the CFL team is when it comes to financing the larger facility.

The business plan also laid out a 20,000-seat version of the stadium that could possibly be built for the $102 million budgeted in the Pan Am bid. And it outlined a steep jump in land acquisition and soil remediation costs that are $16 million higher than budgeted.

"Anything of this magnitude will have bumps and hurdles, but the question is, can we afford not to take advantage of it?" Eisenberger said.

The jump from $10 million to $26 million for land and cleanup would take the city's costs up to $76 million, but he said some of that increase may be covered by funding from other government programs.

Eisenberger added the city would face some of those remedial costs anyway, as it owns a large property in the block of land northwest of Bay and Barton streets.

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