The Hook

Never mind what those

Never mind what those buildings look like. We won't be able to use them after the olympics cuz they will cost too much to maintain and use. I have seen pictures of some of the Athens structures which have grafitti, barbed wire and occupied by the homeless.

And to think..

...that all these boondoggles and the billions of debt was perpetrated by the sanctimonious Gordon Campbell gang who railed about a few fast ferries. They seem kinda small by comparison now.

What a huge surprise...

That the Tyee has cherry picked a negative article about the Olympics.

Boddy didn't get picked. I wonder where his sour grapes came from?

Sour grapes

"Admittedly, the critic was wowed by the Richmond Oval’s gigantic wooden roof, even though harsh interior lighting makes it hard to look at."

Its an ice rink pal. Mood lighting is for "artistic" ventures.

BTW Skywalker. The Public forgives and forgets (inevitable) Government overuns on projects if they provide value in the end - think Coqihalla highway - the Cats were expensive AND useless.

No imagination games.

I have never understood the purpose of the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics. Both locations were well developed and are well known. The legacy is marginal at best with the Richmond Oval being the major building, and it will not even be used for its Olympic purpose. A drive through Calgary shows what a monument the Olympics could be, with all the venues still being used to develop our winter athletes. What a wonderful legacy would have been left by a Kamloops-Vernon-Kelowna Olympics. And what a boon for our wonderful interior.

The sea to sky highway has not solved the slide problem. A far more useful solution would have been an electric railway with tunnels through the slide areas. The Campbell Government is characterized by a total lack of creativity and imagination, nowhere better demonstrated by their Olympics.

I noticed when reading the

I noticed when reading the Whistler Pique last evening that a lot of locals up there don't think much of the new improved highway. Oh well what do they know, they just drive it everyday. Lots of money spent including the so called non circus building, convention center, slightly over budget by around 400 millions.
The team can sure spend lots of taxpayers cash

ICE RINK??? Mail non!

Apparently not. Once the Olympics are over the Richmond Oval is not going to be an ice rink - from what I've heard everyone recognizes that it will turn more or less directly into a field house.

The absurdity of building a speed skating training facility at sea level is pretty much obvious to everyone - furthermore, the country clearly can't support more than one such outfit anyway - as the current operating difficulties of Canada Olympic Park in Calgary evidence.

BTW Wilfrid, Boddy is a 'critic' - not an architect. There IS a difference.

The most dangerous people on

The most dangerous people on Earth today are economists and architects filling our lives with hopelessness, depression and ugliness.

We've lived in Vancouver from 1955 to79, and it was a very pleasant place in the beginning. Really enjoyed it.

My wife hasn't been back for 30 and I for 22 years and when we see the place in the news on TV, we're just about ready to throw up.

A true world class dump it has become.

This Olympic racket has also become a deadly bore we'll all be paying for for years, as we have paid through the nose for Expo 86. Especially here in the Interior.

Ed Deak.

ICE RINK? Mais Oui!

Completely incorrect information above from G West. In fact, multiple rinks at times.

"Ice Zone
A giant sheet of ice, occupying the east third of the Oval’s field of play, will give the Oval tremendous flexibility for on-ice programming. An adaptive board system will make it possible to transform the ice into multiple configurations including: international or North American hockey, figure skating, short track speed skating, sledge hockey or a “Big Ice Concept.” The Big Ice will facilitate hosting community skating events as well as skill development programs aimed at making hockey players, figure skaters and short trackers better skaters."

As well as a few other things.

http://richmondoval.ca/legacy_fieldlevel.htm

Baloney

In fact, the ice is so poor and slow that the Canadian team will be more than happy to return to Calgary to train after this snaffu is over

The oval will be an international speed skating venue for this games and a tarted up community field house thereafter - which won't be long if we have an earthquake here of anything like the intensity and shallow depth of the one that's devastated Haiti.

How soon they'll forget:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/2010wintergames/Calgary+Olympic+legacy+peril/2134543/story.html

Baloney and Crackers

The Calgary facility always was a training facility, within a university campus.

The Richmond Oval has been designed to become a waterfront community centre surrounded with residential dwellings, restaurants and parkland, that will not depend on athletes training for competitions.

Quite different.

Remeber Frank, the Richmond facility

Like the whole of the Campbell project, the Richmond facility is a joke and a boondoggle...I take it everyone is aware (despite the fact the press seems to be ignoring it) that Intrawest is some half billion dollars in arrears.

Instead of watching the snow melt (and one hopes that continues apace) perhaps one might conjure with the thought that they could actually go belly up even before the farce begins in reality.

Some Legacy!

And here is how the people

And here is how the people of BC are paying for this Olympic hysteria.

Williams Lake Tribune
School District 27 considers school closures and program cuts

January 15, 2010 9:36 AM

There was a packed house at the School District 27 board office in Williams Lake Thursday evening as trustees and district staff unveiled proposed options for shaving $3 million from its 2010/11 budget.

Numerous options for program cuts and school closures and consolidations throughout the district were outlined in a presentation by Superintendent Diane Wright and treasurer Bonnie Roller.

The board subsequently endorsed a resolution marking the beginning of a 90-day public consultation process before any final decisions are made on how to trim the $3 million from the budget.

Numerous options were proposed for possible school closures and consolidations.

Three proposals were presented for consolidating Williams Lake Secondary and Columneetza Secondary on a new campus at Columneetza that would include making Nesika Elementary School part of the high school.

Williams Lake Secondary School would be converted to an elementary school. Three scenarios were presented for filling this new elementary school.

1.a Consolidate Glendale, Nesika, Marie Sharpe and Wildwood to the current WLSS campus.

1.b Consolidate Kwaleen, Nesika, and Marie Sharpe to the current WLSS campus.

1.c Consolidate Glendale, Nesika and Marie Sharpe to the current WLSS campus.

Several options for closing and consolidating Nesika, Glendale, Marie Sharpe, Wildwood, Kwaleen, Big Lake, Lac la Hache and Buffalo Creek schools were also presented.

In the area of program cuts the board is considering eliminating the French immersion program, elementary school band program, reading recovery program, the EJ Bare Centre, First Nations target - augmented funding, gifted program, professional learning communities, secondary transitions program, student support services -- teaching assistant time based on enrollment, as well as other service and staffing reductions.

Between February 2 and March 3 a series of public meetings will be held throughout the district to gather public input on the proposed areas being considered for cuts.

Written submissions and comments will also be accepted.

All of the reports related to the proposed budget process are available on the School District 27 website at sd27.bc.ca

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/community/81731272.html

© Copyright Black Press. All rights reserved.

Nicely put Ed

Isn't it richly ironic that the public gets consulted when cuts are to be made but there was no taste for a BC-wide referendum before this Olympic idiocy was foisted on the province?

Perhaps some of the public's written submissions sould address Gordon Campbell's salary and pension!

Not to mention the horrendous costs his P3 projects are imposing on the future.

Baloneys bad for you West. Don't eat it

GM Place is at sea level, or close to it. So is the Pacific Colliseum. They manage.
Some would say just fine.

I see you're sort of buying into the "the Oval is in the wrong place where the ground is so porous the building will eventually sink!" crowd.
I always smile whenever I read one of those comments.
Why? Because the Oval is directly located across the river from YVR, where there are buildings that dwarf the Oval. The Terminal is probably about eight times the size of the Oval.
Same soil conditions exactly. Its called preloading people, it ain't rocket science.

At any rate I don't see how this one fits into the "boondoggle" category.
Built on time on budget.
Richmond council and its citizens seem quite pleased with their new facility.
Do you have any documented material I might look at to change my opinion?
Online blog comments don't count.

You know I'll admit it if I'm mistaken.

BTW. What does Intrawest have to do with the Oval? Red herring?

Ed

Are you inferring that declining school enrollment has been caused by the Olympics?

Sorry Happy

It has as much to do with humidity as anything else. And, the instability of the substrate is not an insubstantial consideration given the seismic characteristics of the Fraser delta. However, the real point I was making is that there is no need for two speed skating ovals in this country - the one in Calgary is (as noted) having enough trouble operating as a 'legacy' and there will be NO OVAL in Richmond after the games - it'll be turned into a multi-use field house. After a few short years it will fall into the same kind of squalor and disrepair as Empire Stadium and the China Creek bicycle track did subsequent to the British Empire Games.

Intrawest is hardly a red herring - it happens to be the operator of the facilities at Whistler and, should it fall into chapter 11 before the games it'll be a nice black eye for the premier and his buddies.

The same guys who bailed out a year and a half ago when they saw the writing on the wall.

And it'll be a black eye they all richly deserve.

There never should have been a winter Olympic bid from Vancouver - and if the fine warm wet and typical coastal weather will hold on for another few weeks - we'll all know why soon enough.

I recall February 2005 was a particularly warm month...there is every indication that 2010 may be just as pleasant.

With a little luck.

Certainly, despite having had the opportunity to sink several thousand dollars into tickets for the games, Campbell's folly won't be making anything from yours truly - aside from the tax bills of course.

Cheers.

Oh, and one more thing

We're talking about 'winter' sports legacies here specifically speed skating - don't forget that the Richmond facility - post games - will be geared more than 75% toward summer sports activities...now that makes for pretty heavy skating in this country wouldn't you think.

And if you're looking for evidence of what I'm saying, look no further than Richmond Council's own marketing program.

Most of the summer sports I know are much better played outside....

When BC athletes want to train for speed skating in the future, they're not going to be doing it in BC - they'll be heading off to Calgary...

By the way happy, did you ever find out how much the Washington Marine Group got for the fast cats?

I heard some pretty impressive rumours!

I'd love to hear what they got for the Cats

But all I've heard are rumours too.
Too bad the opertion that bought them wasn't around back in the day when they were auctioned off and we may have done better than 20M. But thats just speculation.
I doubt we'll ever know the true numbers.
Don't forget, those Cats had to packed out of here on the Marine equivalent of a flat deck tow truck. Did WMG have to pay for that? Usually the seller does.
And I'm not trying to be argumentive, but say what you want about the German boats, thay managed to make it here from Europe under their own power, no problems whatsoever.

I don't buy your comparison of the Oval with Empire stadium or the others.
Empire operated for over 30 years after the Commonwealth games and was used for countless events during that period, not just Lions games.
So will the Oval.

My first thought too...

...was the red herring. Clearly there in the first sentence. Furthermore, since the Richmond Oval is mostly paid for by the City of Richmond the complaint is another red herring. BC taxpayers contributed $30 million of the $178 million, on-time on-budget project.

http://www.richmond.ca/__shared/printpages/page4554.htm

You're missing the point

It's meant to be an Olympic legacy and it isn't - never will be - it will not be used for speedskating or high level winter sports training - BC athletes will still be going to Calgary for that.

As for Empire Stadium - I take it you haven't been to England lately - 30 years for a sports facility is little more than a moment in time. Compared with BC Place it was, all that being said, a bargain. We're just beginning to pay for that rotten marshmallow.

There is no Olympic legacy outside of the debts this turkey will leave behind and all British Columbians are taxpayers whether they live in Richmond or Pouce Coupe.

Let it Rain!

You're wrong

It was never intended as anything but a sports facility for Richmond and the lower mainland. Calgary has been and always was intended to be the winter sports training facility.

Whether it rains or not the games will go on with plenty of snow - and ice.

It's sad to see such spiteful sentiments from British Columbians hoping for rain. The Olympics will inject lots of money into the economy and provide thousands of people with work and money. The ideologues that hope for failure of the games have been shown to be wrong in every case as the facilities have come in on-time and on-budget. In desperation they now look to the heavens for disaster and salvation of their negative sentiments.

realisticman...

No kidding! :D

In society there are always some miserable and hapless individuals who always have their own perpetual "rain cloud" lingering over their own head.

Badluck Schleprock always comes to mind:

Luke...

Thanks for Schleprock. I don't remember him possibly because I never have watched much tv.

My favourite animation character is probably Betty Boop. Now there's a cheerful dame - with great rhythm!

vancouverism.ca

Impressive Woodward's opening on Friday.

I see the Gordon Campbell Liberal Government gave $50 million for the SFU Contemporary Arts Department to move in there too. Wow. That's more than they gave to the Oval.

The famous 'W' is lit again and the area has been given a serious vote of confidence and chance to revive. I see that BladeRunners were involved there too.

Smiles all round.

Like I said

Some legacy!

Enjoy your stupid field house.

Some games - and what a nice green mountainside I noticed up on Cypress today....Cultural funding is down 90% in this province and some people are excited about a big "W"...
Give me strength!

It's sad to see people cheering for circuses when families who need a break can't get one.

Nothing?

What about the social housing in Woodward's, irrelevant?

So, Garth....

Do you ever have anything positive to say? The family and I had a great day in the sunshine. How did you spend it?

And you wonder why your lot doesn't hold power. It is all a conspiracy, of course.

Please read again

Cultural funding is down 90% in this province and some people are excited about a big "W"...

It was not me who brought up the "w" remember?

You have a family Wilfrid?

I'm surprised!

The World is Coming

...and they will look around town, including the Downtown East Side. Woodward's will be the gateway and the shining light of what British Columbia and Vancouver is doing by blending social housing with market housing, retail, commercial, educational and cultural facilities. It's sustainable too.

I predict sunny weather.

GWest

Don't forget, Wilf, Luke and r'man said a financial crash would never happen.

And even though most of the world thinks a crash happened they still believe the economy has never been stronger than it has been these last two years.

So remember that when they continue to claim that the Olympics won't cost us anything because all the bills will be covered by foreign visitors and foreign media.

They were wrong about the financial crash, wrong about Campbell's tax cuts, wrong about Campbell's "surpluses" and they'll be wrong about the Olympics too.

Frank the Bradmeister...

What have you been smoking? Some of BC's finest herb??!! :D

Wrong-way Luke

Just pointing out the obvious

Frank

I hope you acted on that tip in late 2008 when a certain politician said that there seemed to be some opportunities in the stock-market. Man, if you did and cashed in now you'd be laughing.

By the way, how are the rain-dance lessons going. Will you be ready next month?

r'man

Sorry, but I never play the stock market for ethical reasons. But I'm glad to hear you cashed in on the crisis and are now laughing.

As for the dance lessons, I had to take a rain-check.