mr.x
August 19th, 2007, 08:47 AM
All of the sports venues are on time and on budget, but it seems that the two Athletes Villages in Vancouver and Whistler are having some problems, especially Whistler.
Cost of athletes' centre triples
Vanoc to dip into contingency fund to make up deficit
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, August 17, 2007
WHISTLER - Construction problems and a demand from the International Olympic Committee to put more beds in Whistler has nearly tripled the cost of an athletes' centre being built for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
As a result, the Vancouver Organizing Committee will have to take nearly half of a $53.5-million provincial contingency fund to cover the deficit, said a newly released government report.
In a report done in April but only released now, Partnerships BC said Vanoc ran into problems at its 350-bed Whistler Athletes Centre because of inflation and the pressures of a short construction season.
It said the cost had ballooned to as much as $36.5 million from $16 million even before the IOC indicated it wants an additional 800 beds to be built in Whistler.
The report, which was generally positive towards Vanoc's overall venue construction program, said the organizing committee plans to take as much as $25 million from the provincial contingency for this one project.
Dan Doyle, Vanoc's executive vice-president for construction, said the centre will now likely cost more than $40 million.
He also admitted Vanoc hid the scope of the problem from the public when it organized a tour of Whistler venues last month because he was in the middle of negotiations with a contractor and didn't want to tip his hand.
An information booklet distributed to the media by Vanoc in July indicated the investment in the centre was $16 million. But the Partnerships BC report, which was completed four months earlier, clearly showed Vanoc was planning on using the provincial contingency fund.
Doyle was not apologetic about the deception.
"One of the problems I have had during this time is that I am in commercial negotiations now with a contractor on the athletes centre, and I didn't want him to know what my budget is. Unfortunately this report has come out, but maybe we are far enough along in the negotiations that it won't be a problem."
The Partnerships BC report, which followed on one done last August by the Crown agency, identified five of 15 venues as having "moderate risk" of problems. It said the other 10 venues pose low risks, and said Vanoc has been doing a good job of managing its work.
It identified the five as the athletes' centre, the Whistler sliding centre, Hillcrest curling venue and athletes villages in both Vancouver and Whistler.
Only the athletes centre raised real concerns. The others are complex and expensive venues that have inherent risks that Vanoc is in control of, the report said.
But it said the centre "presents the most significant challenge."
"The schedule for this venue is aggressive and will be complicated by factors specific to the Whistler construction environment," it said.
Doyle said he identified the centre as a potential problem when he was first hired and believed the estimate of $16 million was inaccurate.
"The original estimate was low. I saw that weeks after getting here and always thought that we would have to draw down the contingency," he said.
Doyle said Vanoc is looking at installing temporary construction-style trailers to accommodate the additional 800 beds, and that they will meet the IOC's accommodation standards for athletes. They'll be installed by the fall of 2009. Vanoc is still trying to finish the original 350 beds in the permanent village by the fall of 2008.
The province tasked Partnerships BC with auditing Vanoc last year to ensure it was properly accounting for the $580-million jointly-funded federal-provincial venue construction budget.
B.C. Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen expressed confidence in Vanoc and said he wasn't concerned about the increased cost to the athletes' centre.
"We're not going to go in and micromanage this project," he said. "The message from that report is that as much as there were some issues, Vanoc has managed them."
Doyle said the Partnerships BC report is outdated because it was written before the 2007 construction season and many of the issues it identified have been resolved.
"There might well have been moderate risks when the report was first written, but there sure as hell aren't now," he said.
Hansen said the report was not released until now because provincial staff considered it an internal document.
However, he said several weeks ago a staff member asked him about it and he insisted it be published on the government's website.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Cost of athletes' centre triples
Vanoc to dip into contingency fund to make up deficit
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, August 17, 2007
WHISTLER - Construction problems and a demand from the International Olympic Committee to put more beds in Whistler has nearly tripled the cost of an athletes' centre being built for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
As a result, the Vancouver Organizing Committee will have to take nearly half of a $53.5-million provincial contingency fund to cover the deficit, said a newly released government report.
In a report done in April but only released now, Partnerships BC said Vanoc ran into problems at its 350-bed Whistler Athletes Centre because of inflation and the pressures of a short construction season.
It said the cost had ballooned to as much as $36.5 million from $16 million even before the IOC indicated it wants an additional 800 beds to be built in Whistler.
The report, which was generally positive towards Vanoc's overall venue construction program, said the organizing committee plans to take as much as $25 million from the provincial contingency for this one project.
Dan Doyle, Vanoc's executive vice-president for construction, said the centre will now likely cost more than $40 million.
He also admitted Vanoc hid the scope of the problem from the public when it organized a tour of Whistler venues last month because he was in the middle of negotiations with a contractor and didn't want to tip his hand.
An information booklet distributed to the media by Vanoc in July indicated the investment in the centre was $16 million. But the Partnerships BC report, which was completed four months earlier, clearly showed Vanoc was planning on using the provincial contingency fund.
Doyle was not apologetic about the deception.
"One of the problems I have had during this time is that I am in commercial negotiations now with a contractor on the athletes centre, and I didn't want him to know what my budget is. Unfortunately this report has come out, but maybe we are far enough along in the negotiations that it won't be a problem."
The Partnerships BC report, which followed on one done last August by the Crown agency, identified five of 15 venues as having "moderate risk" of problems. It said the other 10 venues pose low risks, and said Vanoc has been doing a good job of managing its work.
It identified the five as the athletes' centre, the Whistler sliding centre, Hillcrest curling venue and athletes villages in both Vancouver and Whistler.
Only the athletes centre raised real concerns. The others are complex and expensive venues that have inherent risks that Vanoc is in control of, the report said.
But it said the centre "presents the most significant challenge."
"The schedule for this venue is aggressive and will be complicated by factors specific to the Whistler construction environment," it said.
Doyle said he identified the centre as a potential problem when he was first hired and believed the estimate of $16 million was inaccurate.
"The original estimate was low. I saw that weeks after getting here and always thought that we would have to draw down the contingency," he said.
Doyle said Vanoc is looking at installing temporary construction-style trailers to accommodate the additional 800 beds, and that they will meet the IOC's accommodation standards for athletes. They'll be installed by the fall of 2009. Vanoc is still trying to finish the original 350 beds in the permanent village by the fall of 2008.
The province tasked Partnerships BC with auditing Vanoc last year to ensure it was properly accounting for the $580-million jointly-funded federal-provincial venue construction budget.
B.C. Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen expressed confidence in Vanoc and said he wasn't concerned about the increased cost to the athletes' centre.
"We're not going to go in and micromanage this project," he said. "The message from that report is that as much as there were some issues, Vanoc has managed them."
Doyle said the Partnerships BC report is outdated because it was written before the 2007 construction season and many of the issues it identified have been resolved.
"There might well have been moderate risks when the report was first written, but there sure as hell aren't now," he said.
Hansen said the report was not released until now because provincial staff considered it an internal document.
However, he said several weeks ago a staff member asked him about it and he insisted it be published on the government's website.
jefflee@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2007