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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Vancouver makes Olympian efforts for the 2010 Games


Downtown Vancouver, B.C., with Coal Harbour fronting Stanley Park and the mountains across Burrad Inlet.
 (Photo courtesy Tourism Vancouver / The Spokesman-Review)
Allen Holder The Kansas City Star

VANCOUVER, B.C. — It would be easy to forgive the people of Vancouver if they were feeling a little smug right about now.

As Athens continues to make headlines over construction delays, transportation and security concerns before the Summer Olympics, Vancouver looks ahead and sees plenty of encouraging things for its Games:

• B.C. Place Stadium, site of the opening and closing ceremonies, already stages more than 200 events a year, including BC Lions games in the Canadian Football League.

• General Motors Place, home of ice hockey events, captured Canada’s attention, if not the world’s, as a site for NHL playoff games this spring.

• Whistler, the resort village where alpine skiing, Nordic and sliding sports will take place, boasts world-class mountains that already attract skiers each year.

Here’s the kicker: The Winter Olympics in Vancouver are still almost six years away. They’ll take place Feb. 12-28, 2010, followed by the Paralympics a month later.

“Half of our facilities are already built,” said Sam Corea, communications director for the Vancouver Organizing Committee.

“We’re maximizing our use of existing stadiums. That was a bit of an adjustment for the (International Olympic Committee).”

Vancouver is taking a different approach from previous Olympic host cities, including Athens, which built most of their venues after the Games were awarded. “In the past, a lot of facilities would have to be built, so that would leave them with facilities that might not be appropriate” after the Games, Corea told travel journalists gathered in April in Vancouver.

“Everything we had in mind for the Olympics, as far as venue building, was ‘What will it look like in 2011?’ “

For example, the athletes’ quarters to be constructed in Whistler will be used for resort employee housing after the Games. The University of British Columbia Winter Sports Center, to be built for hockey, will be used by the university for recreation and competitive events and contain classroom and research facilities.

Bigger is not necessarily better anymore when it comes to the Olympics, Corea said. That’s different from the days of former Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch. “Now they’re building things that are more appropriate to the area and the culture.”

The Winter Olympics also are a notably smaller event than the Summer Games. The Vancouver Games are expected to draw more than 80 participating countries, 250,000 visitors and 10,000 media representatives. In contrast, Athens expects participation from more than 200 countries, 600,000 Olympic visitors and more than 21,000 media representatives.

Still, the Winter Games are a huge undertaking on their own. “You need a large urban center hooked up with an alpine center,” Corea said.

It’s safe to say Vancouver, with a metropolitan population of 2 million, is excited about its Olympics, dubbed the Sea to Sky Games for its proximity both to the Pacific Ocean and the mountains.

“This will be the first Olympics with the opening and closing ceremonies under a roof,” Corea said. “We had to sell that to the IOC.” That may prove to be a plus. “Many athletes do not participate in the opening ceremonies because they’re outdoors and they have to compete the next day,” Corea said. “This will ensure that all the athletes will be able to participate.”

Plenty remains to be done, of course. At GM Place, where the Vancouver Canucks play NHL hockey, the arena’s ice will have to be altered because the Olympic configuration is about 15 feet wider than the NHL’s, so three or four rows of seats will have to be removed temporarily.

Work already is under way on the Sea to Sky Highway, straightening and adding capacity and lanes to the 75-mile road between Vancouver and Whistler.

That project, like the others, is propelled by the Olympics but will have a lasting effect on the area.