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Feature - Six years and counting

One year after being awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics Sea to Sky communities are working quietly to prepare for the biggest event to ever touch the corridor

It was another hard winter for businesses relying on tourism in the Sea to Sky corridor.

There were fewer destination travellers, the Canadian dollar stayed strong, and the conflict in Iraq dragged on.

But the silver lining, said Whistler Mayor Hugh O’Reilly, may be that those who questioned why the resort needed to pursue the 2010 Winter Olympic Games may finally be putting their doubts to rest.

"I think a lot of people have come to recognize that our success in the past was never guaranteed," he said.

"(The Olympics) really provides another opportunity for us to showcase what Whistler, Vancouver, and B.C. has to offer as a tourism product, a sporting venue and a cultural arena. We get a chance to tell our story to a world-wide audience and that you could never, ever, ever, purchase."

It’s been a year since the International Olympic Committee announced in Prague on July 2, 2003 that Vancouver and Whistler had won the 2010 Games.

Gone from Village Square are the faces painted with maple leaf flags, the cheering crowds and the eager young athletes waiting to hear if they would get the chance to compete in their home town.

Instead the sound of calculators humming, pencils sketching plans and athletes working out fill the air in B.C.

It’s less than six years to go until the province welcomes up to 250,000 people to watch the Olympics and Paralympics.

For Whistler it’s been a year to consolidate the community sustainability plan and get a handle on how the Games will fit into the strategy.

The Games offer an important opportunity for the community to get long-term resident housing, through the construction of the athletes village, which will likely be located in the Cheakamus south area, near the Whistler landfill.

O’Reilly said one of the goals of the CSP is to keep 75 per cent of the population resident in Whistler. No easy task when the median price of a single family home in the resort is $1.5 million.

"We have 400 people today on a waiting list who have said, ‘no, we prefer to be in restricted housing in Whistler than in a free market situation in another community,’" said O’Reilly.

"That is a huge choice because they are valuing more than just their investment, they are valuing lifestyle quality and opportunity and businesses and who their neighbours are.

"We can’t provide everything for everyone but clearly the community has still said, even with housing restrictions, even though they are not going to make a whack full of money on their housing, that it is important that they live here."

While houses are still selling in Whistler the boom some expected following the awarding of the Games never materialized.

However, said Mike Wintemute, general manager at Windermere Sea to Sky Realty, the Olympics will impact the market in the resort.

"I think the Olympics will play some role in market values because they will introduce Whistler to a whole bunch of people out there that aren’t aware of Whistler and because of the marketing the Olympics will bring it should have a positive effect on the real estate market," he said.

And baby boomers still want to buy resort real estate. Those numbers aren’t supposed to peak until 2008.

There is also a buzz around town about some of the new venues, such as the bobsleigh and luge track, said O’Reilly.

"People are curious about it," he said.

"It is not just about the athletes. It has a real recreational component… and this is a town which is addicted to adrenaline so I suspect that a lot of people will give it a go."

The same will be true of the ski jumps at the Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley.

"I look at what the kids are doing for big air on the mountain and I think a lot will just transition over to the jumps because why do a hundred feet when you can do 350 feet?" said O’Reilly.

"It’s the go big or go home idea."

And that exposure is bound to translate into a new crop of potential Olympians.

Preparing for the Games has also meant a closer relationship between all the Sea to Sky corridor towns and the Squamish First Nation, which is closely associated with the hosting of the Games.

In the last year Whistler and the Squamish Nation have explored how they can both benefit from the Games. For example Whistler needs employees and unemployment is high in the Squamish Nation.

"It’s a natural fit," said O’Reilly.

"What we are trying to do is figure out how we can define success for both communities. I think they would like to participate more in the economic engine that Whistler has generated.

"I don’t think it is impossible it is just a mater of negotiating. These are the types of things that can go either way and you can get into conflict, but I think we have a good relationship now and I am going to work on the premise that we can find a way to deliver success to both communities."

Squamish Chief Gibby Jacob said there is still great excitement about the Games in his community and work is continuing on bringing the legacies negotiated with the government to the Squamish Nation.

"There are sports legacies and other opportunities that we are pursuing," said Jacob who is on the board of the Vancouver organizing committee for the Games (VANOC).

"We are working on a few things that will hopefully bring a lot of good results to a lot of different players and participants, including ourselves."

One area that is being looked at closely by Jacob is the Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley. Originally the athletes village was to be located there and it was hoped that would be the catalyst to development of the area. The Squamish Nation, which claims the area as traditional territory, has always planned to be involved with the running of the centre, which will be left as a legacy with an endowment fund for operations after the Games.

That’s now being re-thought.

"We are going to do a close examination of it," said Jacob.

"If it makes sense to us we will opt in and if it doesn’t we will have to pay close attention to that particular aspect."

In the meantime Squamish Nation youth are being trained in the tourism sector and pursuing sports, and leaders are working to figure out where the best opportunities lie.

Calls to the Lil’wat First Nation, which is also involved in the Games, were not returned.

In Pemberton an Olympic Games Committee is preparing to release a report outlining some of the ideas which it believes will help the village capitalize on the event.

They include plans to host a western-themed event every night of the Games, pursue expansion of the local airport, develop a new gun club in the hopes of attracting biathletes to train there and creating a park and ride system for people who come from across B.C. to the Games using the Duffey Lake Road.

"If you look at the Olympic bid book Pemberton was mentioned twice and from that we have decided that although there are things they can help us with if we don’t help ourselves then nothing is going to happen," said committee chair Don Coggins.

And the community plans on getting an early start with preparations. It hopes to host its first western winter carnival in 2005 so that by the time the Games come it will run smoothly and be a signature event.

"I am really very excited about it," said Coggins.

"I think there is tremendous opportunities for the area. But it will be totally up to the citizens of the area to make it worthwhile.

"It is just an amazing opportunity if we chose to take advantage of it and that is what I think we are doing."

Pemberton has also seen a significant rise in real estate prices – for various reasons – but, said Wintemute, prices have now levelled off.

"Pemberton itself has peaked and the volume has slowed down on the residential side," he said.

Some of that is driven by the fact that not as many Whistler residents are moving to Pemberton as was the case in recent years. With real estate prices going up in Pemberton and prices flat in Whistler there just isn’t the incentive anymore.

Squamish is also reaching out and grabbing the opportunity the Games is offering said Mayor Ian Sutherland.

"I think the biggest opportunity we have because of the Olympics is the fact that it has given us a chance to market and showcase our community," he said.

"With the Olympics we are going to have a chance to show ourselves off through local visits, through television coverage, and through word of mouth. I think it gives a greater chance for economic benefits. It’s a great thing for the community."

Squamish has big plans to develop its waterfront and, thanks in part to the Olympic announcement, investors are keen to look at the project.

The town is also hoping to attract more hotel development, not just to offer accommodation for the Olympics and Paralympics but to deal with the increasing number of visitors coming to enjoy rock climbing, windsurfing, hiking, mountain biking and other outdoor activities.

The upgrade to the highway is also raising Squamish’s profile.

"The highway upgrade means that more people will be interested in living here because it will be a safer and more consistent drive to and from Vancouver and Whistler," said Sutherland adding that the increase in the number of amenities under construction is also helping make the town look more attractive.

Naturally that popularity has translated in to higher real estate prices. The average single family home in Squamish is now about $380,000.

However, said Lisa Bjornson, manager of Royal LePage’s Black Tusk Realty, prices have not been affected by the Olympics coming to the region yet.

"We are not seeing any price increases here now due to the announcement," she said.

There was flurry of activity right after the announcement just as there was in other Sea to Sky communities said Bjornson. But the big increase, a rise in prices of 37 per cent, came in the year before the Games were awarded.

But Squamish is still the winner when it comes to real estate and the Games said Wintemute.

"I think that Squamish will see the bigger win from the Olympics even as we move toward the Games because of the upgrades to the highway and the flow of traffic that will always be going through Squamish," he said.

"Visitors might get to Whistler and say, ‘geez, I can’t afford Whistler but I wonder if we should look at that community just down the road?’"

But all this popularity is taking its toll on Squamish. Municipal staff is swamped and working overtime to deal with all the applications being made to the town.

Even with all the stresses development and the Games may bring to town Sutherland wants his community to focus on the excitement the event offers.

"First and foremost we want it to be a fun thing for the people who live here and that is what we are excited about," he said.

"We want it to be something that the people who live here never forget."



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