February 28, 2005

Construction projects ready to roll for B.C.’s 2010 Olympic Games

VANCOUVER

The 2010 Games are moving from the blueprints to the hard hats.

Construction is scheduled to begin this summer on the first of the venues being built for the Winter Games as Vancouver’s Olympic dream begins its transformation to reality.

“We’re becoming real, we’re becoming operational,” says John Furlong, chief executive officer for the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC). “We’ve been 18 months planning and now the project is going to come to life.

“Job One is to get these venues started.”

Come summer, work is expected to begin on the $102-million biathlon, cross-country and ski jumping facility at Callaghan Valley, about eight kilometres south of Whistler, and the $52.8-million bobsled and luge track to be built on Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler.

As the venues take shape, Furlong expects VANOC to begin to grow from its current staff of about 80 to the 1,200 that will be employed when the Games open in just less than five years.

“VANOC is small today but the organization will start to grow,” Furlong told reporters after a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade. “In the next three or four months, you’ll see us move in the direction of getting the venues started.

“We’re also going to be moving along with some of our more integrated planning in areas like security, technology, accommodation and transportation.”

Premier Gordon Campbell recently announced his Liberal government will spend $15 million this year to help develop and support B.C. athletes.

The 2010 Olympics will run from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28, followed by the paralympic competitions March 12 to 21. In all, more than 5,000 athletes and officials from 80 countries are expected to participate.

History will be made when B.C. Place stadium becomes the first indoor venue for a Winter Games opening ceremony. The men’s hockey final will be held on the last day at G.M Place.

Figure skating, curling and speed skating will also be held in Vancouver. Cypress Bowl, which on a clear day offers a breathtaking view of the city and the sparkling waters of Burrard Inlet, will be home to snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

The resort community of Whistler, about 110 kilometres north, will stage the Alpine skiing, Nordic events, ski jumping and bobsled.

The Games are scheduled to operate on a $1.35-billion budget, but that cost jumps to around $2 billion when another $620 million in venue costs are included.

The B.C. and federal governments have pledged $310 million each towards building facilities. The B.C. government has also agreed to cover any cost overruns.

On the plus side, VANOC has already signed a $200-million communications contract with Bell Canada. Still to be signed are the official bank, automobile supplier, airline and brewery.

A consortium of Bell Globemedia and Rogers Communications will pay $90 million (U.S.) for the Canadian TV rights to 2010. NBC has also agreed to pony up $820 million (U.S.) to show the Games. How much of that money the IOC will return to VANOC has yet to be determined.

Some of the venues will be built in locations that are different than originally proposed.

The $60-million speed-skating oval now will be located in Richmond on Vancouver’s outskirts instead of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. The switch was made after the proposed cost of building the arena jumped to $80 million. Richmond will include the oval as part of a $153-million municipal revitalization project.

The International Broadcast Centre, the nerve centre for the world-wide television broadcast of the Games, has moved from Richmond to the Vancouver Exhibition and Convention Centre expansion.

Out in Whistler, slalom and giant slalom races have been switched from Blackcomb Mountain to Whistler Mountain, site of the downhill and super-giant slalom.

Work will begin early next year on the speed skating oval. By 2007, construction will be under way on the curling venue and the athlete villages in both Vancouver, along False Creek, and in Whistler.

The Canadian Press

Print | Email | Comment