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Canwest News Service
In another signal that the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are just around the corner, the new Richmond oval will close to the public Tuesday to allow for Games-time conversion.
The closure of the $178-million facility is the latest in a phased shutdown of venues in Vancouver, Whistler and Cypress Bowl to allow the Vancouver Organizing Committee to undertake a complex conversion.
At the oval, workers will string lights, install cabling to support large scoreboards, erect extra seating and install temporary washrooms to handle the sellout crowds expected for the 17 days of speed skating competitions.
It comes on the same day Vanoc will begin to gussy up the mountain venues with its so-called "look of the Games," hanging banners and other colour-schemed material. It will start employing the "look" in the city starting Jan. 1.
But already there are visible signs in Vancouver and elsewhere that the Games are close. At the Vancouver Convention Centre, temporary security screening and accreditation tents have been erected to process many of the 10,000 journalists expected to attend the Games.
Portions of Cypress Mountain, the site of snowboarding and freestyle skiing, and all of Whistler Olympic Park, the site of ski jumping, cross-country and biathlon, have come under Vanoc's control for overlay purposes.
In Whistler, Vanoc has also erected a number of temporary structures, including a massive dining hall for athletes, warming huts and media facilities. During the summer it had installed temporary servicing and concrete pads for stands and other equipment at all of the outdoor venues.
Overall, Vanoc will spend $200 million on Olympic imagery and conversion to Games-time use. Of that, about $135 million will go for overlay.
Ted Townsend, a spokesman for Richmond, said the city will mark the looming closure of the oval with a public skate on Sunday. The oval has operated since last December, offering public skating sessions and a variety of fitness programs. All of those will be suspended until April 1, when Vanoc will return the oval to Richmond's control. Some staff, notably icemakers, will remain at the venue but others, including administration, will move out to allow Vanoc to take over complete control.
The only venues not yet directly under Vanoc's control are Vancouver's three civic ice arenas, which will shut down in mid-January, and GM Place. Even the athletes' villages in Whistler and Vancouver have been turned over for conversion, and Vanoc already has use of the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Centre, the curling facility at Hillcrest.
At Cypress Mountain, an unexpectedly early snowfall may help dampen the financial impact the company faces for the five weeks the mountain is closed to public skiing. Cypress has been open for daytime public skiing since Nov. 13, nearly a month earlier than usual, said Kent Rideout, a Cypress spokesman.
"We're trying to keep our business as normal as possible," Rideout said. "We opened nearly a month early and we have a base of 180 cm. It's making all the skiers and riders exceptionally happy. That's good for us."
Vanoc has taken control of two parking lots and the new freestyle skiing venue, which was never open to the public. It will take over total control of Cypress on Feb. 1.
Two weeks ago, Vanoc chief executive John Furlong gave reporters an idea of the size and scope of the overlay program, noting that the spectator stands at Cypress were 14 storeys tall.
"They're certainly impressive to see," said Rideout.
Vanoc is also doing overlay work at Whistler Blackcomb's Creekside facility, the site of the downhill events. Blackcomb says the first run closures will take place on Jan. 25, with Vanoc taking over lifts on Feb. 1.
Vancouver's busy community arenas at Trout Lake, Killarney and Britannia Community Centres will close mid-January. But because they are all designated practice facilities for figure skating, short track speed skating and ice hockey, they won't need major amounts of overlay. Most of the work will entail security and perimeter fencing.
jefflee@vancouversun.com
Read Jeff Lee's blog at www.vancouversun.com/insidetheolympics
