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RV lots coming to Vancouver during Olympics
June 17, 2009
VANCOUVER (CBC) - Hundreds of RVs could line the waterfront in Vancouver's upscale Kitsilano neighbourhood during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
On Monday, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation voted to convert parking lots at Jericho Beach and Spanish Banks into lots for recreational vehicles from Feb. 10 to March 2, 2010.
For $95 a night, visitors can reserve one of 110 spots at Jericho Beach or one of 255 at Spanish Banks.
Park Board commissioner Aaron Jasper said the move is an attempt to address the expected shortage of RV space in Metro Vancouver during the Games.
"We could have these folks either camping in shopping mall parking lots in an uncontrolled way or we could have an actual area that is controlled, monitored and supervised, and I think it's in everybody's interest to go that route," he said.
In a written statement, the board said it would send out information to nearby residents, with an opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback.
The board said visitors would be able to make reservations after a site operator is chosen in July.
About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.
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More cost overruns at Vancouver Olympic Village
June 17, 2009
VANCOUVER (CBC) - Vancouver city council will debate a report Thursday detailing the need for almost $22 million in new funding to complete the city-backed portions of the Olympic Village.
The administrative report, which was completed May 25 and will be presented to the standing committee on city services and budgets Thursday, outlines the additional funding needed to complete the Southeast False Creek development.
City council will be asked to approve $21,895,200 in new funding to complete the public portion of the development that will house athletes during the 2010 Winter Games.
With the current budget increase, taxpayers will be on the hook for a total of $45 million in cost overruns accumulated since the project began in 2005, said Coun. Geoff Meggs.
"What stunned me when I read the report late yesterday was that the project office [overseeing the development] itself had gone over budget early in 2008," Meggs said.
"So, at a time when we were counting on the project office to manage the overruns in the Millennium [condominium] project and so many other areas, they themselves didn't have approval, as far as I can tell, for their own spending."
The project office is requesting a roughly 37 per cent increase in its operating budget: from $3,490,600 approved in May 2005 to the $4,795,800 requested in the report. An increase of $1,305,200.
The affordable housing component of the development, 252 units in total, was originally budgeted to cost about $95 million and will now cost $110 million.
The report quotes, "escalating construction prices, change orders related to incomplete tender drawings and anticipated BC Housing financing costs."
An additional $5,520,000 will be requested to complete the civic centre, which includes a community centre, boating facility, daycare centre and restaurants. The civic centre was originally slated to cost $30.5 million and the report estimates it will now cost just over $36 million.
Dave Cobb, senior vice-president for revenue, marketing and communications on the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), said his concern is less about the cost and more that the project will be completed on time for the Games.
"I mean, obviously, we would have the same concern as any British Columbian would have, but in our role as the organizing committee, the critical issue for us is will we get the units in time to convert them for Olympic use before the athletes arrive," said Cobb.
The proposed funding is in addition to the $100-million "bailout loan" council approved in October 2008 for the privately funded portion of the village being built by the Millennium Development Corp. after the hedge funds financing the condominium project pulled out because of the economic downturn.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THIS NEWS STORY
The waste and corruption in our political system has to change ... please join us at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59766666358 to send the message to our politicians at every level that Canadians are sick and tired of government waste.
POSTED BY: BaroqueP on THU, JUN 18, 2009 02:16 AM -0500
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David Suzuki took his money for the global warming fiasco and ran.
POSTED BY: Harry on WED, JUN 17, 2009 06:09 AM -0500
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Not surprised. That is the norm for Vancouver.
POSTED BY: Harry on WED, JUN 17, 2009 06:07 AM -0500
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waste total waste,someone should be held accountable
POSTED BY: parkituse j on WED, JUN 17, 2009 06:01 AM -0500
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David Suzuki who? sure talks a lot yet no one knows what the heck he does besides get grants and money from the government of Canada. The only green he is interested in is the folding kind. But then again Canadians love to give money to anyone and they will keep giving especially to the growing Olympics debt............eat beans BCer's you deserve it.
POSTED BY: trendz on WED, JUN 17, 2009 06:01 AM -0500
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VANOC’s positive cash position in latest quarterly report tempered by tough economy and challenging market conditions
Jun 16, 2009
Vancouver, BC — The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) today released its report for the third quarter of the fiscal year, which includes a positive cash position of $127 million, largely due to the timing of payments received and expenditures made while operating in the most challenging economic conditions in recent history. The report includes a management discussion and analysis, and interim financial statements for the period ending April 30, 2009. VANOC's quarterly report is available at www.vancouver2010.com.
“We are pleased with our positive cash position for the quarter, which is almost entirely due to the timing of payments from various partners and ticket sales revenue. However, as we’ve said before, we are not immune to the issues and challenges posed by the economic downturn so the final eight months will be very challenging with the biggest spending quarters ahead of us,” said Dave Cobb, executive vice president and deputy chief executive officer. “Like all companies, we continue to carefully review revenues and costs and apply rigorous scrutiny to every decision that has any kind of financial ramification.”
John McLaughlin, VANOC’s chief financial officer added, “We are actively in the market procuring a wide range of goods and services required for the Games. The busiest procurement period is ahead of us with 62 per cent of our overall spending to come. While many potential suppliers are cautious or simply unable to get involved with us due to the prevailing economic conditions, many companies see the compelling opportunity provided by the Games. We’re very pleased with the quality of suppliers and contractors who are engaging. We negotiate every contract carefully, balancing costs and service levels against our commitments to athletes, spectators and partners.”
The management discussion and analysis portion of this report includes a detailed discussion and analysis of financial results, venue development activities and financial position. In summary:
» Deferred operating revenues exceeded deferred operating expenses by $128.9 million for the quarter, compared to $145.9 million in the previous quarter ending January 31, 2009. On a project-to-date basis, there is an excess of deferred operating revenues over deferred operating expenses of $182.3 million.
» The Organizing Committee’s net deferred operating revenue for this quarter was $234.8 million and was comprised mainly of contributions from the IOC ($92.6 million), ticket sales ($52.9 million), international and domestic sponsorship ($36.3 million), Paralympic contributions ($24.7 million), licensing and merchandising ($2.2 million) and other revenue ($38.5 million).On a project-to-date basis, deferred operating revenues were $847.4 million.This represents approximately 48.3 per cent of budgeted operating revenues for the project.
» VANOC’s net deferred operating expenses in the quarter were $105.8 million. Excluding the impact of the net foreign exchange gain, deferred operating expenses were $106.1 million. On a project-to-date basis, deferred operating expenditures totalled $665.1 million, or about 37.9 per cent of the project budget. In accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles, all revenues and expenses are deferred prior to Games time.
» VANOC’s total venue construction expenditures for the quarter were $10.6 million. Project-to-date venue construction expenditures now total $543.7 million, which represents 91.9 per cent of the venue construction budget. In addition, an $8.3-million central contingency draw for BC Place has been approved by the Organizing Committee’s board of directors, reducing the contingency balance from $9.6 million to $1.3 million.
The quarterly report contains the updated Games operating budget, approved by VANOC’s board of directors in January, as well as a summary of the Organizing Committee’s operating budget, current and project-to-date revenues and expenditures. VANOC continues to refine and update its forecast of the Games operating budget on an ongoing basis.
The next financial report will be released in October 2009 and will include the audited financial statements for the year ending July 31, 2009.
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Demand strong in first day of Phase 2 of ticket sales for Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
June 16, 2009
All gold-medal ice hockey inventory sold; ice hockey, curling and victory ceremonies still available
Vancouver, BC –It took mere minutes for Canadians dreaming of attending the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games to purchase the more than 1,000 tickets to the men’s gold-medal hockey game made available this morning, reported the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).
Demand remained strong throughout the first part of the day, as Canadians submitted orders from every province and territory for their dream Olympic tickets in record numbers, with more than 22,000 orders for 130,000 tickets processed in the first four hours. Gold-medal hockey tickets to the men’s competition, along with Opening Ceremony tickets, speed skating and figure skating were among the first tickets to be purchased this morning. However great tickets to preliminary ice hockey, curling and victory ceremonies are still available along with limited inventory for other sports. Customers are also now able to gain immediate access to the purchasing site, as organizers were able to turn off the virtual waiting room by 12:30 today.
“We anticipated demand would be high for tickets, and the level of interest we saw today was very exciting and, once again, a testament to the pride and support Canadians continue to show in being part of Canada’s Games in 2010,” said Caley Denton, VANOC vice president, ticketing and consumer marketing. “Thanks to the incredible work by our partner tickets.com, our system performed as planned on the technical side. After 10 am today, our www.vancouver2010.com website experienced traffic of more than 1,300 hits per second and by noon had set a record for page views at more than 5 million.” Added Denton “The virtual waiting room system worked well and helped manage traffic demand on our site effectively while keeping the process fair for consumers.”
VANOC is also continuing to develop an authorized ticket resale program, for launch later this year, where ticket buyers will be able to offer their tickets for sale to other Games enthusiasts — who will be able to buy such tickets with confidence knowing they are legitimate.
VANOC will also launch a third, smaller phase of ticket sales this fall.
Ticket sales to the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, temporarily unavailable for purchase during Phase 2 of Olympic ticket sales, will be reopened in the coming days to the Canadian public at www.vancouver2010.com.
Once again, the Organizing Committee is cautioning those who missed out on tickets in Phase 2 to be wary of tickets offered for sale through unofficial channels. The only official sources for Canadians to purchase tickets to the 2010 Winter Games are www.vancouver2010.com and official 2010 Winter Games hospitality partners Jet Set Sports and CoSport.
Background
Phase 1 of Olympic ticket sales took place in late 2008 when the Canadian public was invited to submit requests for tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Within a month, Canadian residents had submitted requests for more than $345 million in tickets. This overwhelming response was 4.5 times greater than the first phase of ticketing sales for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games ($75 million over nine weeks), the most recent Olympic Games held in North America. As a result, approximately 120 of 170 ticketed sessions for the 2010 Winter Games were allocated by lottery.
On December 12, 2008, remaining tickets from this first-phase allotment were re-released for sale exclusively to ticket buyers who had participated in the initial ticket-request period; the remaining inventory was sold that day. The VANOC business plan, update on January 30, 2009, projects revenues from all ticket sales to be $260 million.
On June 3, 2009, four of the first Olympic ticket designs were unveiled. An image of Steve Yzerman, Hockey Canada’s executive director for the Vancouver 2010 men’s ice hockey team, is available via Canada Newswire at www.newswire.ca.
Last month, VANOC opened the sale of tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Strong demand saw all available inventory of gold-medal ice sledge hockey game tickets sold on the first day.
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