mr.x
February 7th, 2007, 04:41 AM
Vanoc wants to ditch plan to upgrade PNE Agrodome
$3.7-million price tag to create venue for figure skating training is too high, local organizers say
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Vancouver Olympic organizers want to abandon a $3.7-million plan to upgrade the PNE Agrodome, saying it would be too expensive to improve the building to make it a figure skating training venue.
The move pits the Vancouver Organizing Committee against the International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee, which were promised compact facilities at Hastings Park, site of the Coliseum, where the actual competitions will be held.
It marks the second time in a year that Vanoc has altered plans for Hastings Park. It previously dropped a temporary training facility for short-track speed-skaters in favour of one of two new arenas being built at Killarney or Trout Lake by Vancouver taxpayers.
Now it is suggesting figure skaters can train at the other new arena. The changes mean athletes will have to travel more and will lose the convenience of using the Agrodome, which is adjacent to the Coliseum.
Tim Gayda, Vanoc's vice-president of sport, said the proposal hasn't been accepted by the ISU and the IOC, but a review done last year shows it is not practical to upgrade the Agrodome, especially when one of the new arenas can be used for figure skating.
"After seriously looking at the Agrodome, looking at what we would need to do to upgrade that to international-sized ice, essentially you would be building the ice right to the cement buttresses," he said. After the Games, the rink would have to be returned to its original configuration.
But Ted Barton, executive director of Skate Canada's B.C. section, said figure skaters are not enthusiastic about the proposed change, especially when they had been offered Hastings Park as a compact training and competition site.
Barton, who is also a consultant for the ISU, said bid officials suggested figure skating should be held at the Coliseum, even though the international body, then fresh off a wildly successful 2001 World Championships at GM Place, wanted to hold the Olympic event downtown. A fight was brewing over whether GM Place should be used for hockey or figure skating, he said.
"After the 2001 Worlds, we were all set to go back to GM Place for the Olympic figure skating event, but we gave that up in order to move to the PNE because it made a lot of sense to have a practice rink beside the main rink," he said. "That was one of the reasons why we said we wouldn't fight the battle of who gets in GM Place."
However, he said he doesn't think holding training sessions at Trout Lake or Killarney will affect the calibre of competition. "From a convenience perspective, yes; from a performance perspective, probably no. In Torino, the practice facility was 15 minutes away. So does it have to be side-by-side for the event to run? No. Is it better for the rinks to be side-by-side? Yes," he said.
The Agrodome, built in 1963, is used for community hockey events, floor shows, concerts and as a prop for the film industry.
The impetus for changing the Olympic training venues stems in part from a dramatic escalation in construction costs that has buffeted Vanoc, increasing its original $470-million venue construction budget to at least $580 million. The upgrades to the Coliseum and Agrodome, originally estimated at $23.1 million, have risen to at least $25.7 million.
Last year, Vanoc won an agreement from the International Ice Hockey Federation to hold hockey competitions on NHL-sized ice at GM Place and the new UBC Winter Sports Centre. The decision saved Vanoc $10 million and also gave it some freedom to rework the use of training facilities in the city.
Meanwhile, the city agreed to press ahead with replacing the Trout Lake and Killarney arenas at a cost of $26.5 million. Originally, only one of them was to be upgraded as an Olympic hockey training site. Vanoc is contributing $5 million to the two projects, half of which is money it saved from scrapping the temporary short-track facility.
Gayda said the IIHF agreement on ice size means hockey practices can be held elsewhere, so Vanoc wants to use the new arenas for figure skating and short-track speed-skating training. Both will be built to international ice standards.
If the ISU and IOC agree, the Agrodome will likely be converted to other services needed to support the Coliseum, he said.
The ISU said it was aware of the issue but didn't want to discuss it.
"This question is currently being evaluated in cooperation with Vanoc and the IOC. While discussions are ongoing we do not wish to comment but of course as soon as a decision has been taken we would be available to comment," ISU spokeswoman Devra Pitt Getaz said in an e-mail.
The IOC said if necessary, it will review the issue next month when its Vancouver Coordination Commission pays its semi-annual visit.
"As part of the regular process that goes on between an organizing committee and the International Federations, we are aware that the ISU and Vanoc are in discussions," Emanuelle Moreau, an IOC spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
Dave Rudberg, Vancouver's manager of Olympic operations, said the city isn't opposed to the change. The Agrodome is in need of repair and would not remain as an international-sized arena, he said.
Instead, the city would like Vanoc to put some of the $3.7 million earmarked for the Agrodome into better upgrades at the Coliseum, including more improvements to the concession stands and possibly replacing the scoreboard.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
$3.7-million price tag to create venue for figure skating training is too high, local organizers say
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Vancouver Olympic organizers want to abandon a $3.7-million plan to upgrade the PNE Agrodome, saying it would be too expensive to improve the building to make it a figure skating training venue.
The move pits the Vancouver Organizing Committee against the International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee, which were promised compact facilities at Hastings Park, site of the Coliseum, where the actual competitions will be held.
It marks the second time in a year that Vanoc has altered plans for Hastings Park. It previously dropped a temporary training facility for short-track speed-skaters in favour of one of two new arenas being built at Killarney or Trout Lake by Vancouver taxpayers.
Now it is suggesting figure skaters can train at the other new arena. The changes mean athletes will have to travel more and will lose the convenience of using the Agrodome, which is adjacent to the Coliseum.
Tim Gayda, Vanoc's vice-president of sport, said the proposal hasn't been accepted by the ISU and the IOC, but a review done last year shows it is not practical to upgrade the Agrodome, especially when one of the new arenas can be used for figure skating.
"After seriously looking at the Agrodome, looking at what we would need to do to upgrade that to international-sized ice, essentially you would be building the ice right to the cement buttresses," he said. After the Games, the rink would have to be returned to its original configuration.
But Ted Barton, executive director of Skate Canada's B.C. section, said figure skaters are not enthusiastic about the proposed change, especially when they had been offered Hastings Park as a compact training and competition site.
Barton, who is also a consultant for the ISU, said bid officials suggested figure skating should be held at the Coliseum, even though the international body, then fresh off a wildly successful 2001 World Championships at GM Place, wanted to hold the Olympic event downtown. A fight was brewing over whether GM Place should be used for hockey or figure skating, he said.
"After the 2001 Worlds, we were all set to go back to GM Place for the Olympic figure skating event, but we gave that up in order to move to the PNE because it made a lot of sense to have a practice rink beside the main rink," he said. "That was one of the reasons why we said we wouldn't fight the battle of who gets in GM Place."
However, he said he doesn't think holding training sessions at Trout Lake or Killarney will affect the calibre of competition. "From a convenience perspective, yes; from a performance perspective, probably no. In Torino, the practice facility was 15 minutes away. So does it have to be side-by-side for the event to run? No. Is it better for the rinks to be side-by-side? Yes," he said.
The Agrodome, built in 1963, is used for community hockey events, floor shows, concerts and as a prop for the film industry.
The impetus for changing the Olympic training venues stems in part from a dramatic escalation in construction costs that has buffeted Vanoc, increasing its original $470-million venue construction budget to at least $580 million. The upgrades to the Coliseum and Agrodome, originally estimated at $23.1 million, have risen to at least $25.7 million.
Last year, Vanoc won an agreement from the International Ice Hockey Federation to hold hockey competitions on NHL-sized ice at GM Place and the new UBC Winter Sports Centre. The decision saved Vanoc $10 million and also gave it some freedom to rework the use of training facilities in the city.
Meanwhile, the city agreed to press ahead with replacing the Trout Lake and Killarney arenas at a cost of $26.5 million. Originally, only one of them was to be upgraded as an Olympic hockey training site. Vanoc is contributing $5 million to the two projects, half of which is money it saved from scrapping the temporary short-track facility.
Gayda said the IIHF agreement on ice size means hockey practices can be held elsewhere, so Vanoc wants to use the new arenas for figure skating and short-track speed-skating training. Both will be built to international ice standards.
If the ISU and IOC agree, the Agrodome will likely be converted to other services needed to support the Coliseum, he said.
The ISU said it was aware of the issue but didn't want to discuss it.
"This question is currently being evaluated in cooperation with Vanoc and the IOC. While discussions are ongoing we do not wish to comment but of course as soon as a decision has been taken we would be available to comment," ISU spokeswoman Devra Pitt Getaz said in an e-mail.
The IOC said if necessary, it will review the issue next month when its Vancouver Coordination Commission pays its semi-annual visit.
"As part of the regular process that goes on between an organizing committee and the International Federations, we are aware that the ISU and Vanoc are in discussions," Emanuelle Moreau, an IOC spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
Dave Rudberg, Vancouver's manager of Olympic operations, said the city isn't opposed to the change. The Agrodome is in need of repair and would not remain as an international-sized arena, he said.
Instead, the city would like Vanoc to put some of the $3.7 million earmarked for the Agrodome into better upgrades at the Coliseum, including more improvements to the concession stands and possibly replacing the scoreboard.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2007