Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: City Manager

SUBJECT: 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games Bid: Status Report

INFORMATION

COUNCIL POLICY

On March 26, 2002, Council endorsed the City's involvement in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games bid.

Also on March 26, 2002 Council moved that the City of Vancouver urge the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation to work with community members to conduct a complete community impact study with recommendations to minimize the negative effects and to maximize the opportunities of hosting the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games.

On October 19, 1999, Council approved the Policy Statement for the development of Southeast False Creek, which includes requirements for public amenities (childcare, park, non-market housing, etc.) within a context of sustainability.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to update Council on the status of Bid activity and specific issues impacting the City of Vancouver.

BACKGROUND

In December 1998, Vancouver and Whistler were selected by the Canadian Olympic Association (now the Canadian Olympic Committee, "COC") to represent Canada in the international bidding competition to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games (the "Games").

In June 1999, the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation ("Bid Corporation") was incorporated with the goal of winning the right to host the Games. The Bid Corporation is responsible for developing the overall vision and conceptual plan for hosting the Games. Work on all aspects of the Bid development is well underway and the Bid Corporation is confident that they will be in a position to submit a successful bid to the International Olympic Committee ("IOC") in January, 2003.

If selected by the IOC to host the Games, the Bid Corporation will be replaced by the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games ("OCOG") to refine and implement the plan outlined in the Bid Book.

On March 26, 2002, Council considered a status report on the Games bid. Council endorsed the City involvement in the bid for the Games.

DISCUSSION

1. STATUS

The Bid Corporation has briefed Council a number of times on Games Bid development, including in March of this year, and there have not been any significant changes in direction or vision on these issues since then.

The first IOC submission, the Bid Questionnaire or "mini" Bid Book, was submitted by the Bid Corporation on May 31, 2002 and will be used by the IOC to shortlist a number of Applicant Cities at the end of August, 2002. The mini Bid Book is a 22-page document that responds to questions, in a prescribed format and length, provided by the IOC. The mini Bid Book has been made available to the public through the media and information meetings, as well as on the Bid Corporation's website (www.winter2010.com). If Vancouver is selected by the IOC to be a Candidate City, we will be invited to submit a Bid Book, a more comprehensive document, in January, 2003.

It is anticipated that the Bid Book questions and guidelines indicating format, length, and appendices, will be provided by the IOC in September, 2002. The Bid Book will be comprised of the responses to these questions.

The proposed sites of the Games venues have remained unchanged from previous Council briefings and preliminary conceptual designs and cost estimates are nearing completion. A series of public open houses and stakeholder consultation sessions have taken place, and will continue to take place, to inform interested parties and receive their feedback on the venue plans. In addition, most of the individual International Sports Federations have reviewed and provided feedback on the bid plans and venue designs. Discussions around the Memorandums of Understanding for each venue are underway and a funding commitment of $620M for venue development, shared equally by the Provincial and Federal Governments has been made.

2. TIMELINES

The following timeline of key dates is unchanged from previous Council briefings:

Bid Questionnaire submitted to IOC May 31, 2002 (completed)
IOC selects shortlist of 2010 Candidate Cities August 28-29, 2002
Submit Bid Book to IOC January 10, 2003
IOC Technical Evaluation Visit February/March 2003
IOC announces 2010 Host City July 2, 2003

Due to the considerable work involved in translating and producing the final document, the Bid Book content must be completed several months (late August 2002) prior to the submission deadline.

3. CITY/PARK BOARD VENUES

Athletes' Village

The Athletes' Village will consist of permanent and temporary buildings to accommodate 3000 athletes and their coaches. The temporary buildings include dining halls and related support facilities that will be removed after the Games. The permanent facilities will be a long-term legacy for the community. The permanent facilities proposed for the Athletes' Village on Southeast False Creek include approximately 500,000 sq. ft. of residential accommodation and a 30,000 sq. ft. commercial building.

The proposal is to build self-contained dwelling units (apartments and townhouses) that will be used by the athletes and coaches during the Games and then sold or rented afterwards. The 500,000 sq. ft. of residential space would consist of 250,000 sq. ft. of market and 250,000 sq. ft. of non-market residential space comprising approximately 600 units total. This would comprise a quarter of the total residential sq. footage proposed for Southeast False Creek. The Council-approved policies for the Southeast shore of False Creek include a requirement that 20% of the units be non-market housing. The proposal is to build approximately 75% of the non-market housing requirement as part of the Athletes' Village.
The design work for the Athletes' Village will be undertaken as part of the planning for the long-term development of Southeast False Creek in accordance with the policies approved by Council in October, 1999. The Official Development Plan (ODP) process will begin late this year with the public hearing targeted for Fall 2003. The ODP for Southeast False Creek will include the plans for the Athletes' Village, and show how the permanent buildings and other legacies would be incorporated as the rest of the development proceeds.

Hastings Park

The current proposal includes the renovation of the existing Agrodome, Coliseum, and Rollerland at Hastings Park to accommodate the Olympic figure skating and short-track speed skating competitions and ancillary activities.

The scope of the renovations in the Coliseum include, but are not limited to, upgrading the ice plant, temporarily expanding the ice surface to meet international competition requirements, permanent and temporary revisions to seating, temporary partitions and flooring at the arena level, additional suspended lighting, equipment and bulkheads, new ceiling paint, refurbished and new concession kiosks, new signage and way-finding, additional washrooms, an additional elevator and stairway, improvement of existing stairways and the creation of new meeting rooms.

The scope of the renovations in the Agrodome include, but are not limited to, temporarily expanding the ice surface to meet international competition requirements, new seating, and temporary flooring and partitions.

The scope of the renovations in Rollerland include, but are not limited to, repairing and repainting the exterior, adding and replacing glazed entries and security shutters, adding utilities and services for food service kiosks, and lighting.

Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park

The proposed Curling Venue will be an approximately 80,000 sq.ft. facility located just south of Nat Bailey Stadium. The Games facility will include approximately 6000 temporary spectator seats and a field of play with 5 Olympic-size curling ice sheets, plus walkways and space for television cameras on the sides, ends and overhead house positions. The Games facility will also include sufficient support and ancillary areas. A large area surrounding the facility will be required for the temporary structures and compounds during the Games period and some use may be made of existing City facilities in the immediate vicinity. After the Games period, the OCOG will convert the facility to its Post-Games configuration, with the current plans including a curling club with 10 ice sheets, support areas, and lounge, a community ice arena plus support areas and approximately 300-600 spectator seats, and a community centre containing a gym and multi-purpose recreational space.

Plans for this facility and a number of other existing and planned community facilities in this area will be the subject of a planning process to update the masterplan for this area. This process will involve extensive consultation and commence following the IOC's decision, should Vancouver be selected as the host city for the 2010 Games.

Practice Ice Rink

An international-size ice rink is required during the Games for hockey practices and the Bid Corporation has proposed to contribute to the upgrade of one community ice arena in order to accommodate this.

4. CULTURE

Culture is the second pillar of the Olympic movement and the Bid will ensure that BC's and Canada's rich cultural diversity and artistic excellence are showcased for the global audience from 2006 to 2010. The Olympic Charter requires a wide range of arts and cultural programs in conjunction with the Winter Olympic Games, as do the Winter Paralympic Games. These include Opening, Closing, and Medal Award Ceremonies, arts and cultural festivals over the 4 years of the Olympiad, as well as youth and education programmes. The programs must focus on the culture and traditions of the host nation and involve international participation.

The Bid Corporation believes that Bid planning is about engaging the creativity of the host communities to develop programs that meet IOC requirements, but exceed their expectations in diversity, choice and quality. Community consultation has been at the core of program development and continues to guide Bid Corporation staff as model programs, work plans, and budgets are developed. The model program venue assessment is now complete. Discussions are underway with a range of Vancouver and Whistler arts and cultural venues, including the Vancouver Civic Theatres, to establish in principle agreements.

As outlined above, the wide range of cultural and ceremonies programs will offer extraordinary opportunities for the full spectrum of the local creative sector - performing and visual arts, galleries and historical organizations, literary and cinematic, culinary and architectural, technical and new media, and more. Additionally, having established the principle of working with local arts and cultural organizations in co-presentation and co-production partnerships, the Bid will maximize both the calibre of the events and the benefits to the local creative communities.

Further, in keeping with our commitment to community legacies now, the Bid Corporation is also working on securing funding for a bid phase cultural program.

5. VANCOUVER HOST CITY PROGRAM

City staff have begun to elaborate the concept of a Vancouver Host City Program for the Games as the Bid develops. Over the next several months the program will be fully framed and reported back to Council. Current thinking on the program offers the following description, but this will definitely evolve and change as we move forward.

The goals of the Host City Program are:

- to showcase Vancouver to the world through the experience of our visitors
and the media coverage that comes with the Games.

In realizing these goals, the Host City Program will:

The Host City Program is envisaged as a parallel and reinforcing initiative of the Games. It will be City-based and separate from the official Games organization and arrangements but it will be closely coordinated with, and strictly supportive of, the Games and will not compete with Games activities, funding or branding. It will offer a strong, positive, local response to the international energy that comprises the Games.

This concept is similar for the Games as the Centennial celebrations and legacies program were for Expo `86; the City will bring the positive experience of these past efforts to the table for the Host City Program.

It is intended that over the next six months, a variety of brainstorming activities will be undertaken to identify specific elements of the Host City Program, and we will tap the experience of Salt Lake City, Sydney, Calgary and other Olympic host cities. So far, the following ideas have been suggested:

- local-focussed economic development by facilitating businesses and jobs directly and indirectly related to the vast consumer opportunity represented by Games visitors;

This is only a thin sampling of possibilities. Each idea must be carefully elaborated, scrutinized and reconciled with other Games' initiatives such as the program for an `Inclusive Games' described below. Preferred ideas will connect directly to the interests and organizations of our citizens. Capital works will emerge from the Downtown Public Realm Plan recently initiated by Council and will likely be included in several upcoming Capital Plans. Programs will be conceived or adopted by community and service groups and by volunteers.

A special emphasis will be to showcase indigenous Vancouver design and program expertise and talent, which we know to be of world-calibre excellence. Another emphasis will be on initiatives of continued relevance to our city as a prime tourist destination, as well as a preferred residence because of our high liveability and quality of life.

The Host City Program will be timed to start yielding legacies as early as possible, provide for funding spread over time and shift emphasis from earlier major works to the more temporary aspects as the event approaches.

Building on the Centennial legacies experience, the intent is to bring volunteer energy and organizations' sponsorship to these initiatives, tapping the deep civic pride of Vancouverites, and to partner this with City capital and operating dollars.

Implementation of the Host City Program has not been designed but could include:

Already a top tourist destination and a comfortable, safe city in a spectacular setting, Vancouver can raise the bar as a host city with a focussed, creative and coordinated effort. Through this effort, the Games can also be tied closely to our people and economy, the Games spectacle can be integrated with our densely built-up community, and legacies can be maximized. We can also show off Vancouver in a way that will entice visitors to come for years after the one-time world-wide exposure that the Games will give us.

6. INCLUSIVE GAMES

There has been significant progress in developing the concept of an "Inclusive Games". An Inclusive Intent Statement was developed in consultation with community representatives and has been approved by the Bid Corporation and the Vancouver Agreement senior management of the three levels of government.

The process is being managed by the Vancouver Agreement to ensure continuity should Vancouver be successful, and synergies with the programs that the Vancouver Agreement is undertaking.

It confirms that the Vancouver Bid is committed to the concept of an "Inclusive Games" which speaks to the participation and equity for all groups, including low and moderate-income people in Vancouver's inner-city neighbourhoods. The Statement means that these Games will be planned and implemented in a way which will set this Bid apart from other Bids and previous Games, by emphasizing the inclusion of marginalized groups. The concept is being promoted by spokespeople for the Bid and through the various Bid Corporation Work Groups and other planning activities.

Another activity has been the initiation of the Community Assessment requested by City Council and others. The consultant firm of Ference Weicker & Company has been engaged and the first interim report is due on July 31, 2002. The Assessment will be done in two phases, with the first timed to be completed to provide input into the Bid Book.

A third activity is the development of a Commitment Statement. The statement will contain goals and objectives indicating the intended approach to addressing impacts and opportunities. For example, it will speak to maximizing employment and training for inner city residents. Specific programs would be developed once a decision on the Games is made. It is anticipated that the Commitment Statement would be endorsed by the Vancouver Agreement, as it addresses issues related to all levels of government.

A final activity is the initiation of an Inner City Inclusive Work Group. It is composed of staff from the City, Province and Bid Corporation as well as representatives from the Downtown Eastside, Downtown South, Mount Pleasant, and people who have an interest/expertise in issues such as employment and training, housing, civil liberties, ethnic and gender diversity. The Work Group has two main functions: to help oversee the consultants work on the Community Assessment and to help staff drafting the Commitment Statement. A program "Starting Right Now" will be initiated to begin legacies for inner-city neighbourhoods. A project will be selected through an open competition that illustrates the opportunities that can be generated through the Games. Council will continue to be informed as the program develops.

The Inclusive Games concept is one that has not been evident in previous Olympic Bids, and it is anticipated that this will add a distinctive character and competitive edge to the Vancouver Bid, and emphasize the strong partnership between the Bid and the three levels of government.

7. SUSTAINABILITY

The Bid Corporation is committed to encouraging and showcasing sustainable technologies.

Vancouver 2010 buildings and infrastructure will showcase the best in green building design and construction techniques. North America's most respected building rating system, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), will be used as the standard with new and existing facilities meeting the base certification or higher where possible.

The Athletes' Village will not only showcase model sustainable communities and green building technologies, but will also provide for affordable housing, in cooperation with city authorities. Locating the Athletes' Village in Vancouver's False Creek area will be a legacy and an important catalyst for completing the soil remediation of this former industrial site and developing a sustainable community in accordance with existing city plans for the site.

A combination of rail service, public transit, dedicated bus routes, passenger-only ferries, expanded bicycle networks and pedestrian walkways are planned to transport spectators, volunteers and staff. The transportation plan will reduce energy use, minimize local air pollution and congestion, limit greenhouse gas emissions, and showcase new technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells. Vancouver venues will be located within easy walking distance of existing public transit.

This region derives 90% of its current power needs from renewable sources and has an aggressive program to encourage the development of new power sources from independently verified green technology including wind, micro-hydro, ocean wave/tidal and biomass co-generation. The Bid Corporation plans to acquire some of its power needs for the Games from renewable and green sources through photovoltaic technology, fuel cell generators, solar heating and ground-source heat pumps.

8. PARALYMPICS

The Bid Corporation is competing for the right to host both the Olympics and the Paralympics. The majority of the Paralympics will be hosted in Whistler, with the exception of the Opening Ceremonies.

9. SECURITY

The City of Vancouver Police Department has played a significant role in the initial security planning phase by assigning a senior officer to the Bid Development. If Vancouver is selected to host the Games, the RCMP will be the lead agency in forming an integrated Police Planning Group, of which the Vancouver Police Department will be a significant partner. This single body will have the responsibility for coordination of security during the Games. A Central Command Centre, headed by the RCMP, will coordinate all security operations. Agencies operating under the unified command system (British Columbia Emergency Management System) include the RCMP, Vancouver Police Department, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canadian Forces and other local public safety agencies.

The City of Vancouver has agreed to provide its state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), located at the regional emergency communications centre (ECOMM), as a Games Public Safety Command Centre. ECOMM will be the provider of emergency communications for all Games sites and all public safety agencies have the capability of communicating together through this centre, making communications a seamless operation.

The partnerships to provide security for the Games have been developed and the Health Services, Safety and Security Work Group continues to identify areas that will enhance the ability of these agencies to provide the necessary services in an appropriate manner.

10. TRANSPORTATION

Most Vancouver venues are located within 30 minutes travel time from the Athletes' Village and downtown hotels and some within walking distance. An extensive network of bus, light rail, commuter rail and ferries will transport spectators and volunteers to venues, ceremonies and other events. Public transit will be the focus for spectator transportation as spectator parking will not be available at the venues. Athletes will be transported by vans or buses to and from competition venues and ceremonies, and dedicated or motor pool cars and vans will transport other Olympic Family members. Media shuttles will run from designated media and broadcaster hotels to the Main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre, where shuttles will provide members of the media with transport to the venues.

CONCLUSION

Work on the development of the Bid is well underway and there have not been any significant changes in the direction or vision of the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation since previous Council briefings. The Bid Corporation believes that Bid planning is about engaging the creativity of the host communities to develop programs that meet IOC requirements, but exceed their expectations in diversity, choice and quality. This report has outlined how the Bid Corporation and staff are working towards this objective for all aspects of the Bid, including through its Cultural program, Host City initiative and the goal of an Inclusive Games.

Strong federal and provincial government support continues and is reinforced by the recent commitment of funds to venue development. Poll numbers done by the Bid Corporation continue to indicate strong support for the Bid by the citizens of Vancouver, British Columbia and the rest of the country. Given the support and progress to date, the Bid Corporation is confident that it will be in a position to submit a successful Bid in January, 2003.

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