The International Olympic Committee has put Cheakamus South at the top of their wish list as the site for Whistler’s athletes village.
John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver 2010 Games Organizing Committee (VANOC), confirmed Monday the Cheakamus South area is the site the IOC would prefer.
"It’s a good site," he said.
"It’s right in the heart of the Olympic plan in Whistler."
But Furlong was also quick to point out that ultimately the decision on the location of the athletes village lies with the community.
"The decision is really the community’s in co-operation with the IOC," he said.
That decision should be coming this month.
On Monday, June 21 municipal staff expect to present council with a recommendation on Whistler’s preferred site for the village.
There are two sites on the table. They are Cheakamus South and the Rainbow lands in between Alpine and Emerald.
The municipal planning department is now examining both sites from a community planning perspective to see which is best for Whistler post-Games.
Parts of the athletes village will eventually become resident housing for Whistler employees. This was part of a deal the resort negotiated during the bid process of the Olympics.
"We still get to choose," reiterated Mayor Hugh O’Reilly at an informal community meeting put on by the Whistler Forum last week.
"We think both sites are excellent and we expect both will be developed at some point."
He added that a key point in favour of the Cheakamus South site is that it’s on Crown land. The Rainbow lands, on the other hand, are privately owned. Choosing the Cheakamus site would remove third party negotiations with private landowners.
Located next to the landfill, Cheakamus South has always been the backup plan for the Olympic Village in Whistler, coming second to the Callaghan Valley site, 13 kilometres south of Whistler.
Last winter, after considerable community consultation, the Callaghan was rejected as the athletes village site as residents and second homeowners favoured putting future resident housing in the existing developed corridor between Function Junction and Emerald Estates.
Armed with that information council asked staff for an assessment of other potential sites that would satisfy the infill option.
Among the areas studied were the Whistler Golf Course, the Zen lands north of Function Junction, the Rainbow site on the north end of Whistler and a piece of land between the Montebello townhomes and the highway.
Each was reviewed under the specific constraints of an Olympic village, such as security concerns and transportation issues.
The Zen lands and the Montebello site were too small and the Golf Course had security issues.
By the time the Olympic Co-ordination Commission came for a visit in early April, the village options had been narrowed down to two sites – Rainbow and Cheakamus South.
Deputy Administrator Bill Barratt said the Co-ordination Commission examined both sites and ultimately favoured the Cheakamus South site.
"Their preference, I think you could even say their strong preference, is Cheak South and I think one of the primary reasons is the location in the relationship to the different venues."
Furlong echoed this point saying the Cheakamus South site was probably the most "athlete friendly" option because of its proximity to both the Nordic venues in the Callaghan and the alpine venues on Whistler Mountain.
This is a key factor in choosing the athletes village site, he added.
The village, which will have 2,000 beds, plays an integral role in the whole Olympic experience, said Sam Corea, VANOC spokesman.
The Games may be about competition in sport he said but in a broader sense the Olympics are about the meeting of cultures and promoting peace through sport.
"Not every athlete is going to win medals but they’re going to have an Olympic experience," said Corea.
"And that’s the key about having a village where you’re meeting everyone... everyone is the same in the village."
There are a number of small nodes that could be developed on the 74-acre Cheakamus South site.
They are dotted around the Whistler landfill, which is due to close in the coming years.
The municipal engineering department is currently evaluating its landfill options in the Solid Waste Management Plan. Closing the landfill, however, would most likely force Whistler to transport its garbage elsewhere – a scenario that has been on the table for many years now.
VANOC is looking at transforming the landfill itself into a logistics compound where equipment and material for competitive and non-competitive areas would be stored.
After the Olympics, when the village is converted to resident housing, the landfill could be turned into playing fields, said Barratt.
"The athletes village is very specific (in) what their requirements are but there’s always what you do after," he said.
The sooner the decision is made, he said, the better it will be for everyone because there is a lot of work ahead.
Whistler is still on schedule when it comes to its Olympic village planning.
According to the calendar in the bid book, which has not been modified, the design and development process is to get underway from August until November 2005. Contract negotiations will take place for a full year beginning in March 2005.
Village construction is slated to last from April 2006 to September 2009.
"There’s no reason to delay it, let’s put it that way," said Barratt.
"We’ve gone through all the different analysis of all the different sites. We’re down to two. We’ve got to make a choice.
"Whether you do one or the other, you probably want to make sure that the Olympics is as successful as possible, and at the end of the day, that we (Whistler) end up with resident housing so it’s a win-win."
