The cost of the Whistler athletes’ centre has jumped again — to $46 million.
The new figure is part of the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s annual financial report for the year ending July 31, 2007.
In an April 2007 Partnerships B.C. report the price tag was pegged at $36.5 million.
That was up from the original VANOC budget of $16 million.
However, it became clear over the following months that the budget was deeply strained due to several factors including:
• Changes made to the centre’s design. The centre is now made of three distinct parts, a high performance gymnasium, which was to cost $6.3 million but ballooned to $11.45 million; a complex with 20 townhouses that will accommodate 150 athletes; and a central lodge, which will house 200 athletes. VANOC is still in negotiations with contractors for these components so budgets for the lodge and townhomes is not available.
• Rising construction and labour costs.
• A request by the International Olympic Committee for Whistler to accommodate 800 more athletes than was outlined at the time of the bid for the 2010 Winter Games. The extra athletes will be housed in the centre and in a number of temporary trailers set up at the athletes’ village, which is adjacent to the centre. The extra costs associated with the increase in athletes are being paid for entirely by VANOC.
According to the annual report, $5.4 million was spent this financial year on the centre. The majority of the expense was attributed to VANOC’s $4.5 million contribution to Whistler for site preparation as outlined in a previous agreement.
Another $5 million will be spent on the centre through value-in-kind products from Rona.
Last summer VANOC asked the municipality to up its contribution to the gymnasium from $2 million to $3.65 million.
The rest of the money is to come out of VANOC’s contingency fund.
The centre will support athletes during the Games. Once the Olympics are over it will turn into a permanent training facility and offer low-cost accommodation to visiting athletes.
In general the annual report showed that the Games are on time and on budget and it revealed that organizers have surpassed the 2007 target for sponsorship by $15 million.
Sponsorship now stands at $668 million. In total VANOC needs to raise $760 million.
“By the Beijing Summer Games we’ll be finished all sport venues, marking for the first time in Olympic history that the construction of the sport venues are substantially complete around the time of the immediately preceding Games, in our case Beijing,” said VANOC CEO John Furlong.
The report shows that 62 per cent ($361 million) of the $580 million venue construction budget has been expended. The contingency now stands at $26.8 million.
The plan is to keep $10 million in the contingency in case any changes have to be made to venues following test events in 2009.
VANOC’s operating budget is $1.63 million. There are already commitments of $1.3 million from sponsors, broadcast rights holders and other sources.
“We’re pleased with VANOC’s current financial position through the end of the fourth fiscal year,” said CFO John McLaughlin.
“Our venue program is very well advanced and on budget. On the operations side we have a robust budget in place and have secured a high proportion of the revenues required to conduct the Games.”
VANOC officials are also comfortable with the “hedging” they had done to protect the organization against the strong Canadian dollar. They believe that about $5 to $10 million of the $1.6 billion budget may be at risk from a volatile dollar.
Meanwhile thousands of people a day are seeking information about Olympic tickets after VANOC revealed the price schedule two weeks ago.
“Literally within minutes there was a spike on our website like nothing we have seen almost since we started this,” said Furlong. “Dozens of people everyday are registering to become engaged in… getting regular information about how the program is going to work.”
To sign up for ticket information go to www.vancouver2010.com and follow the links.
As expected the most popular events are pricey, with opening and closing ceremony tickets going for up to $1,100. The best seats for the gold-medal round of men’s hockey will cost $775.
However, more than 100,000 tickets will be available for $25, and half of all Games tickets will be priced at $100 or less.
Tickets go on sale in October 2008 and will be available to everyone at the same time. If events are oversubscribed then a lottery will be held to dole out the tickets.
Olympic family will get their tickets before anyone else, as is the custom.
It’s not clear how many tickets will be available for Whistler events. The Creekside venue can hold a maximum of 7,600 spectators, the Whistler Nordic venue can accommodate 12,000 in each of three stadiums and the Whistler Sliding Centre can hold 12,000 fans. There are several events, including qualifiers, at the venues with tickets available for each one.
For example, there is a men’s four-man qualification round for bobsleigh at the sliding centre and tickets for that are either $30 or $70. The final round tickets for that event are $40 and $85.
Tickets to the men’s downhill are $150.
“Attending the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and sharing gold medal moments with Canadian athletes and international competitors, will be unforgettable,” said Furlong.
“It’s about much more than the ticket — it’s the entire Olympic experience that will likely not come our way in Canada for many years to come. It’s about standing shoulder to shoulder and singing O Canada with fellow Canadians you have never met but with whom you are family for one incredible day. These are experiences that will remain with you for the rest of your life and today we are delivering on our promise to make that unique Olympic experience available to anyone who wants to be there. Our goal is to ensure every venue is full.”
Approximately 1.6 million tickets will be available for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
