In an accommodation grab that runs the length of the Sea to Sky region, Vancouver's Olympic Committee (VANOC) is booking schools, recreational centres and even Quest University to house "high-end race officials" for the 2010 Games.
The officials will arrive from around the world to run Whistler and the Callaghan Valley-based sporting events during the 17-day Winter Olympics in February and the 10-day Paralympics in March 2010. The accommodation bookings in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton would cover both events.
At a community meeting at Howe Sound Secondary School last week (Monday, Feb. 26), Maureen Douglas of VANOC said they had made a formal request to the regional school district to rent the gymnasiums at all four Sea to Sky high schools. It also emerged that they had requested use of the Brennan Park Recreation Centre, which is run by the District of Squamish.
She said VANOC understood that the decision for school use rested with trustees and parents.
"Accommodation is a challenge in the corridor, but we are very cognizant of the kinds of decisions that you have to make," Douglas told those present at the meeting, the third of six such gatherings planned. "We can make our activities work with whatever you decide."Whistler school trustee Andrée Janyk said the Howe Sound School District wanted parents to complete a questionnaire later this month about gym use, and elementary and high school closures during the Games.
The results will be made public in May and the final decision would likely be taken by trustees in June.
VANOC is also looking at Quest University Canada, the not-for-profit private university still under construction in the Garibaldi Highlands.
VANOC is currently in discussions with the university for possible uses during the games. Due to open in September 2007, Quest will house around 600 students.
Quest's spokesperson Angela Heck said "nothing had been finalized" and couldn't comment on the details of talks between the university and VANOC.
Douglas said that 80 per cent of VANOC's accommodation needs for the Sea to Sky region had already been met. She explained that a total of 5,000 beds, including 3,300 reserved for media, would be required as part of their agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
She added that Nejat Sarp, the VANOC's vice-president of Accommodation and Villages, was currently "living three days a week in Whistler" in order to solve the housing issue.
"Our priority is to fulfill the mandate we have [from the IOC]. Third party needs are not a mandate we have, but we may try to facilitate it," said Douglas, referring to finding beds for spectators or teams who want to stay in accommodation away from the Olympic Village.
Douglas said that Sarp had already sat down with property management companies in Whistler and strata groups to "have them understand the challenge." Owners of private residences had not been approached as yet, "but there was certainly some interest from private owners."
"Later this year we will be going out into the community to see how much interest there is for residential home stays," she said, though she emphasized that this would only be for third-party needs.
The plan to dock a cruise ship in Howe Sound at Squamish is still very much on the agenda, though not for the media as originally had been hoped. Douglas said the press commission of the IOC had nixed the plan at the request of newspapers because they wanted to be nearer to events in the Callaghan Valley and Whistler.
"They basically want to be right on top of the heart of the action, and not spending too much time in transit," she said. Douglas added that they could not state at this point who might be berthed on the ship.
At the conclusion of three days of talks with VANOC on Thursday (March 8), the IOC confirmed this.
IOC Chairman René Fasel said: "One of the items that has recently been in the press was accommodation for the media. We were happy to hear from VANOC during their presentations that in Whistler, positive progress has been made since our last visit, and that the issue is largely resolved, with no need to use alternative forms of accommodation for the media in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, such as the cruise ship in Squamish."
Meanwhile, VANOC hopes that Sea To Sky high school students will also be able to volunteer during the games, but to do this would mean changing IOC rules to lower the age of volunteers from 19. She said there are 25,000 volunteer positions to fill.
Douglas said VANOC wants the age limit lowered to 16 or 17 in order to make use of some of the 1,700 high school students in the district who would become available if their schools are closed during the Olympics.
There is no plan to request the closure of schools during the Paralympics the following month.
If this plan goes forward, the experience would not be available to high school students in Vancouver or elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, said Douglas.
The next VANOC-School District community meetings in the region is to take place in Whistler and Squamish on March 12 and 27 respectively.
