Clare Ogilvie, Damian Inwood, Terry Bell and Frank Luba
Province
|
PEOPLE “Do something extraordinary for Canada and the world.” With those words VANOC hopes to attract up to 1,200 employees by 2010. There will also be 3,000 temporary workers and 25,000 volunteers. VANOC’s team of full-time staff is working in departments such as venue development, logistics planning, sport, finance, legal and accommodation. They’re still looking for bosses for risk management, information security, Internet systems and media relations. VANOC just appointed Ward Chapin as senior vice-president of technology and systems, bringing the staff number to 90 full-time employees. Says the HSBC alum: “The Games are a huge and unique consumer of technology.” — Clare Ogilvie MARKETING & SPONSORSHIP A fifth “Tier 1” Olympic sponsor in either the oil and gas or automobile category will be announced soon by Vancouver 2010 officials. “We hope to be through Tier 1 by the end of the summer,” said Dave Cobb, senior vice-president of revenue, marketing and communications. Signed up so far, for a total of close to $500 million, are Bell Canada — with a $200-million cash, in-kind and athlete package — RBC pledging $110 million as banking sponsor, Hudson’s Bay Co. with $100 million as clothing sponsor, and Rona, with $68 million between cash, “product” and athlete development. Cobb said a seventh category, possibly an airline sponsor, could be added. After that, it’s on to Tier 2 and 3. — Damian Inwood sports Denny and Jay Morrison have always dreamed of competing together in an Olympics. Just over eight months from now, in Turin, the speedskaters from Fort St. John may get a chance to race together at the 2006 Games. For the first time, the pursuit will be a medal event in both men’s and women’s long track speedskating. And Jay and Denny both have a shot at making the team. “Being in the same race would be great,” says Denny, who won a gold medal in the 500 metres and a silver in the 1500 metres at the world junior championships in Finland last March. “We both have a good chance to make it. The individual races come first, but the pursuit is a bonus for everyone.” The pursuit is a timed match race run just like the pursuit in cycling. — Terry Bell highway Despite a delay in work on the Sea-to-Sky Highway in order not to disturb a pair of eagles and their roadside nest, work is 50 per cent done on the first stretch of the $600-million upgrade. The project is a year ahead of schedule. Most of the current work is concentrated at Porteau Cove and at the strip between Sunset Beach and Lions Bay. There are daily delays. The project plans to reduce the 300 accidents a year by 30 per cent; travel time between Horseshoe Bay and Whistler should be cut by 15 minutes by completion in late 2009. The plan is to have four lanes from Horseshoe Bay to Lions Bay, two lanes from Lions Bay to Porteau Cove, three lanes from Porteau Cove to Squamish, four lanes within urban Squamish, and three lanes from Squamish to Whistler. — Clare Ogilivie/Frank Luba RAV Although not technically part of the Olympics, the $1.72-billion Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit project is supposed to be a boon for residents and visitors during the 2010 event. Construction won’t begin until August and while there have been holdups, the plan is still to complete the line by late 2009. Among those holdups is getting an environmental assessment certificate from the province, expected this month. Also expected is signing the long-term agreement with the consortium InTransitBC to design, build, operate, maintain and partially finance the line. There’s also the matter of pending litigation brought by the DoRAVRight Coalition against the application for an environmental certificate — Frank Luba 20 The number of languages spoken by VANOC employees 8 Number of home countries on the VANOC team: Austria, Australia, England, Finland, France, India, Ireland and the U.S. 21 VANOC employees who have previous Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth Games experience 8 Number of provinces VANOC employees come from. No one hails from New Brunswick or P.E.I. 1712 Days until the lighting of the torch. Which means you still have time to sharpen your luge skills. The trucks are rolling 2010: There’s lots to do and not much time to do it, so VANOC’s broken ground
WHISTLER — Whistler and Vancouver’s dream of hosting an Olympic Games is becoming a reality. In the past few weeks Tonka-yellow construction equipment, their yawning mouths stretched to capacity, have begun to pave the way for Whistler’s most expensive venue, the $110-million Nordic Centre, in the Callaghan Valley. Meanwhile, in Richmond an RV park is history and plans are under way to shut down River Road so the signature venue of the 2010 Games, the $155-million speed skating oval and community gathering area, can get under way. Construction is set to begin next spring with VANOC contributing $60 million to the project. “It’s a busy time, no doubt,” says the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s Steve Matheson, whose job it is to get the venues built on time and within the $510-million budget he’s been given. That’s a daunting task made harder with escalating construction costs. “We are expecting cost increases over the 2002 bids,” said Matheson, who oversaw billions of dollars worth of development, including General Motors Place, before joining VANOC. “It is inevitable because of the construction inflation that has happened.” VANOC is looking at strategies to cope with rising costs including partnering to build, as they did with the Richmond Skating Oval, and pursuing sponsorship deals with companies such as construction supply giant Rona. “We can get basically anything you can find at a Rona store,” says Matheson. “Certainly sponsorship support in value in kind is going to benefit the venues.” The oval is slated to be done by April 2008. “They are unbelievable buildings,” says Matheson, admitting the oval has captured his heart. “They are so big and with it sitting on the river next to the airport it is going to be spectacular.” Whistler’s $55-million Sliding Centre, which will host bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, is also in the initial phases of construction with site preparation set for summer. Mountain bikers and others on Blackcomb Mountain will find the end of Rolo Coaster trail gone and frequent warning signs alerting mountain users that the area is now a construction zone. The Sliding Centre will be completed in October 2007 so test events can happen before the Games. Indeed, VANOC aims to have all venues built by 2008 so athletes can practise on them. VANOC is involved in the construction of seven new venue sites and eight sizable upgrades to existing facilities for the 2010 Games. This year the Pacific Coliseum will get the first part of its facelift with new seating going in. It should be done for the World Junior Hockey Championship in December. All upgrades to the Coliseum should cost $23 million, with most work under way next year. Plans to start on the new ice sheets at UBC’s Thunderbird Winter Sport Complex are delayed until next year so local hockey leagues can find new locations to play, says Matheson. Total cost for that venue will be $40.8 million. Two athletes villages must also be constructed, in Vancouver and in Whistler, which will host the Paralympics from March 12 to 21, 2010. VANOC will contribute $32.5 million to the Whistler village. The plan is to have the $13-million Whistler Athletes Centre, part of Whistler’s Olympic village, completed by the winter of 2008 so athletes can stay there for test events with the balance of the village finished in 2009. The Vancouver village is also set to be completed in 2009. VANOC will contribute $30 million towards the construction of the Vancouver village. Both will have a community-housing component as a legacy. The other venues: – BC Place Stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies. – GM Place. Olympic ice hockey. Upgrades set to cost $5 million. – Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park. Construction to begin June 2007 on a curling venue built in conjunction with a City of Vancouver community development. VANOC to contribute $28 million. – Cypress Mountain, for freestyle skiing and snowboarding. Work to start May 2006. Upgrades expected to cost $11 million. – Whistler Mountain. Site of Olympic and Paralympic alpine skiing. Work to start this summer and expected to cost $23 million. The new facilities and their construction schedules
SOURCE: VANCOUVER ORGANIZING COMMITTEE © The Vancouver Province 2005 |
