Nothing will be spared for competitors at seven-hectare competitors’ village
Kent Spencer
Province
Exactly three years from today the Vancouver Athletes Village will open and according to 300 pages of just-released information under the Freedom of Information Act, Olympic performers are in for the royal treatment.
Nothing will be spared at the seven-hectare site to make the athletes’ playpen a splendid experience, according to the documents made available to The Province by the 2010 Games Watchdog Committee.
The village on the southeast corner of False Creek features clusters of eight-storey apartments and luxurious amenities, from five-star hotel service to a hall to dance away the midnight hours.
There are pool tables, X-Boxes and a massage centre. A stage for entertainment, a religious centre and a ticket office. A bank and postal and courier services.
An area as big as a big house, 300 square metres, has been set aside for gift-bag storage. The material will be donated by sponsors.
The village’s 15-odd buildings have been designed according to the latest green standards.
Glass and non-glare finishes are featured. Decks are guaranteed at least three hours of sun a day and are protected by windshields.
Poisonous plants such as burning bush and deadly nightshade have been banned. They are on a list of 100 common types that are not permitted in the rooftop gardens.
There will be a library, an Internet cafe and phone lounge and a 500-square-metre fitness centre.
The latest headlines from Europe will be easy to keep track of at a news agent.
Athletes will be housed two to a room measuring 12 square metres. Men and women won’t share living quarters.
The washers and dryers are free of charge, but do-it-yourself.
The level of hospitality is equivalent to a four- or five-star hotel. Meals for the 2,800 hungry competitors will feature Vancouver’s famous multicultural cuisine.
Top-flight Canadian snowboarder Crispin Lipscomb said he hopes Vancouver’s food is tastier than the meat and veg served up at last year’s Italian Olympics.
“The pasta was repetitious,” he said. “It was a pretty static menu.”
If Turin was any indication, Lipscomb said the guys will leave the beauty salon and florist for the girls.
The idea behind the main athletes’ village is to provide a secure base where international guests can relax under protective eyes.
“We were encouraged to spend our whole time in the Turin village,” Lipscomb said. “It was quite a feeling of decompression after years of preparation. Canadians have a reputation of being good hosts. I hope everybody takes that seriously.”
The site will be enclosed by a secure perimeter fence with overhang to prevent climbing.
Extensive security measures were introduced following the 1972 Munich Games, where 11 Israeli athletes were killed in a terrorist attack. Vancouver will pay $1.47 million in terrorism insurance for the publicly owned buildings.
Vancouver project manager Jody Andrews said standards of comfort are set by the International Olympic Committee.
© The Vancouver Province 2007
