By now everyone is aware of the challenges of building in Whistler in the frenzied years leading up to the 2010 Olympics. Labour shortages, global demands for steel and other building materials, tight timelines and “the Whistler factor” have conspired to push several public projects way over budget. The list may be painful reading but it is worth reviewing.
• Whistler library: originally $5.7 million; latest estimate $11 million.
• Sewage treatment plant upgrade: estimated at $20 million in 2003; now estimated at $51 million, including the $12.5 million composting facility.
• Municipal hall expansion: budgeted for $5.7 million; revised estimate came in at $15 million; project cancelled.
The capital cost of most Olympic venues is VANOC’s problem, rather than Whistler’s, but for the record:
• Nordic centre: original estimate $97 million; current estimate $119.7 million.
• Sliding centre: original estimate $52 million; current estimate $104.9 million.
The athletes’ centre is primarily a VANOC project but Whistler is kicking in for the gymnasium. The athletes’ centre, which includes 350 beds and a high performance training facility within the athletes’ village, was originally estimated at $16 million. The latest estimate is $46 million. Whistler was asked to increase its contribution to the gymnasium at the athletes’ centre from $2 million to $3.65 million.
There’s not much that can be done about the spiraling cost of any of these projects now, they are either well under construction and/or have to be finished in time for the 2010 Olympics. But there’s a lot of work still to be done at the athletes’ village in the next two years.
The official estimate for the athletes’ village is still $131 million, although the latest report from Partnerships B.C. hedges a little by saying it’s “$131 million-plus”. Whistler is responsible for building the athletes’ village, and given what’s happened to other capital projects Whistlerites should be watching with concern.
But the athletes’ village is also following a different model. With the Whistler 2020 Development Corporation overseeing the project there is a group of building professionals who have experience with “the Whistler factor”. They have, to date, been able to find development partners to share the load, including Hostelling International and the Whistler Housing Authority. Intrawest, which is seeking development rights at Base II, may also become a partner in the project.
The athletes’ village is the project that should be a tangible, long-term Olympic legacy for Whistler. How successful the development corporation has been in sticking to its budget should be seen in the spring, when the first units are offered for sale to Whistler residents on the WHA waitlist.
There’s no doubt these are challenging times for anyone to be taking on major capital projects (keep in mind the municipality announced in May it was spending $3.5 million from capital reserves to acquire MY Millennium Place, last week committed $600,000 over five years to the centre for sustainability and there is a proposal for a $3.2 million greenhouse in the athletes’ village), but it’s even more difficult when the numbers seem to change so quickly and there are challenges getting current information.
VANOC, for instance, hasn’t always been as forthright as it could have or should have been. The revised estimate for some parts of the athletes’ centre came out in July, after Whistler council had approved a development permit for the project in June. In early August VANOC was saying the budget for the entire athletes’ centre was up to about $22 million. Later in August a Partnerships B.C. report written in April was released that said the athletes’ centre was estimated at $36.5 million. This week a revised estimate came out: $46 million.
That’s troubling enough, but the capital costs are only part of the story. Operating the athletes’ centre, the Nordic centre and sliding centre after 2010 will be the responsibility of the Whistler Legacies Society, made up of VANOC, the RMOW, the province, the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Draft business plans for the centres have been produced but not finalized. That’s because the numbers don’t work.
The society will receive $2.5 million annually from the 2010 Games Operating Trust to run the facilities. As Keith Bennett, Whistler’s representative on the legacies society says, that’s enough for the Nordic and sliding centres to break even. It’s not enough to manage the 350-bed athletes' centre, to hire an executive director or to market the facilities. So who among the seven partners in the legacy society is likely to come forward with more money?
In his 2006 review of Olympic preparations acting auditor general Arn van Iersel wrote: “…any losses from those facilities in their post-Games operations (after drawing against the 2010 Games Operating Trust) will become a cost to the Province.” But if the athletes’ centre is losing money after 2010 the provincial government isn’t likely to sink more money into it.
Perhaps as part of its legacy VANOC could come up with a corporate sponsor to keep the athletes’ centre going after 2010.
