Hillcrest Olympic Curling Centre

[Ruling Czar]

I totally agree olympian.....oops but........wait...........i think yours kinda sucks to my friend....LOL *hugs*

[Kenadian]

What's Beijing got to do with Calgary? We're talking Winter Olympics. And from 5 medals in 1988 to 24 by 2006 with the nation in the Top 4 for 1998, 2002, and 2006, you can't say that Calgary didn't have an impact. Those medals are the legacy of Calgary's Winter Olympics. That's what is fact.

Everything else is subjective. I mean you live in Orlando. What's so beautiful about a plastic palace and an over-sized golf ball?

[Ruling Czar]

The fact that when its winter and I wanna go one up on Orlando, the chance to reach to BARBADOS in just one hour...? The hardest decision I have to make there is what wine goes well with a hot tub and a spectacular sunset.

Ummmm.......and how cold does it get where you are? kendegra....winter is coming.....*you won't be able to shower that often* *giggles*

[mr.x]

[mr.x]

[mr.x]

Hurry, hurry - last Olympic venue opens on time

First rock 'lands' on the button at curling facility that will become a community hub after the Games

MARK HUME

February 20, 2009 // Globe & Mail

VANCOUVER -- When the first, ceremonial rock slid down the flawless ice in the new Olympic curling centre it was slightly off target - so Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson gave it a nudge with his broom.

The rock hit the button, coming to rest in the centre of a blue circle that in one year's time will be the focus of the world's greatest curlers and millions of fans.

The mayor's nudge might not have been what John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympics, had in mind when he said completion of the venue will give Canadian athletes "home-field advantage" in the Games.

But it worked yesterday as Mr. Robertson, Mr. Furlong, Premier Gordon Campbell and other dignitaries used the perfectly placed rock (and another thrown on an adjacent ice sheet by a wheelchair curler) to mark the official opening of the last Olympic venue to be completed.

The opening comes just one week short of a full year before the Games begin.

"This is a simply wonderful day for Vancouver 2010. ... Our team is feeling a great deal of pleasure today but also a great deal of thanks," said a beaming Mr. Furlong, shortly after the General Brock Elementary School choir sang the national anthem.

There is still some plywood cribbing up, much interior finishing has yet to be done and there is raw landscaping outside, but the $39-million Vancouver Olympic Centre is ready enough to play host this weekend to the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship.

The building also includes a new $34-million aquatic centre (still under construction) and after the Games, the complex will have evolved to include a library, community centre and an NHL-sized hockey rink.

Located in Hillcrest Park, which is just across the road from Queen Elizabeth Park in the centre of Vancouver, the new facility is destined to become a community focal point.

Mr. Furlong thanked all of those who have worked to help make the Games happen.

"Without all of you ... this dream that we had, which we scratched on paper over a decade ago would still be a dream. Someone else would have the Olympic and Paralympic Games," he said.

"Because of what you've done and what you've contributed, this will not just be a stunning Olympic sport theatre but it will be a place where young children and families will grow up for generations," Mr. Furlong added.

He urged people to think about what it will be like in the building on the final end, when he hopes Canada will win curling gold.

"There will be a crowd in here, the largest ever to watch an Olympic curling event, of 6,000. It will be a stunning theatre. And can you just imagine what it will be like, with a Canadian athlete holding last rock?" Mr. Furlong said.

"It will be a time like no other. It will be pure magic and we will all be witness to it. And after the Games are over and we've seen this extraordinary thing happen, young boys and girls will come in here and enjoy this building and they will always be told the stories of the great adventure that took place in here," he said.

Mr. Furlong said that getting all the Olympic venues done well in advance of 2010 means that Canadian athletes will have time to get used to the facilities before the Games begin. He said VANOC accelerated the building program specifically "to create home-field advantage," and also because organizers didn't want to be worried about construction issues in the final Games runup.

Mr. Robertson, who rode his bike to the opening ceremonies from his office at City Hall, some 20 blocks away, said Vancouver can use the building to show off its commitment to the environment.

The building is constructed to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green-building standards.

Mr. Robertson said recycled and regional materials were used in construction, a system that reduces water use by 30 per cent was adopted, and excess heat from ice-slab cooling will help heat the complex.

"This building is very special," he said. "The world will find a city here that leads."

***

Water and ice

In 2010, Olympic curling will be played in the state-of-the-art facility, but it was designed for a post-Games life as well. The site will eventually include a swimming pool, a hockey rink and more.

AQUATIC CENTRE:

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Lap Pool

Leisure Pool

Outdoor Pool

COSTS

Curling venue $39m

Post-Games conversion $14m

Aquatic centre $35m

Total $88m

CURLING VENUE:

COMPLETED

Olympic curling sheets (to be converted to NHL-size rink)

Curling ice (post-Games)

Refrigeration Plant

Hillcrest Park

NINIAN CARTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE: VANOC

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/National

[NY20??]

Heh, I love how it's in a suburb.

[mr.x]

Heh, I love how it's in a suburb.

Not really, it's still in the city: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=...mp;t=h&z=14

It's a 10-minute drive from the Olympic Village/Downtown, and a 5-minute walk from the nearest Canada Line train station.

This is also the largest curling facility in Winter Games history with 6,000 seats. It's double the capacity of the venues at Salt Lake and Torino.

[NY20??]

Not really, it's still in the city: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=...mp;t=h&z=14

It's a 10-minute drive from the Olympic Village/Downtown, and a 5-minute walk from the nearest Canada Line train station.

This is also the largest curling facility in Winter Games history with 6,000 seats. It's double the capacity of the venues at Salt Lake and Torino.

I know, I know.

I didn't mean technically, it's just that the residential surroundings look... suburban. I wasn't taking a stab and implying it sucks because it's outside Vancouver city-limits. I just like it and it’s the location.

[mr.x]

I know, I know.

I didn't mean technically, it's just that the residential surroundings look... suburban. I wasn't taking a stab and implying it sucks because it's outside Vancouver city-limits. I just like it and it’s the location.

oh haha, well the location was far from random.

After 2010, the old community centre/swimming pool/ice rink across the street will be torn down as this new and much larger facility takes its place with the Olympic venue's new public library branch, ice hockey arena, curling ice sheets, indoor wading pool, indoor swimming pool, outdoor leisure pool, gym, community space, and fitness gym. It will be an extremely well-used facility after the Games, an Olympics with post-Games legacy in mind.

[Guardian]

Well, tomorrow is when the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championships starts to test the venue.

Link: World Wheelchair Curling Championships

[Faster]

They could have had 2 curling venues, one at 6 to 8,000 for morning and afternoon games and one at 20,000 for evening and playoffs and every ticket would have been sold. For Canada 6,000 is small.

Edited February 21, 2009 by PM Faster

[mr.x]

They could have had 2 curling venues, one at 6 to 8,000 for morning and afternoon games and one at 20,000 for evening and playoffs and every ticket would have been sold. For Canada 6,000 is small.

But who would pay to build such a massive venue for just 2 weeks? 6,000 is already an Olympic record and a massive improvement over the 3,000 seats at Salt Lake and Torino.

I believe Canadian curling officials or the sporting federation for curling asked for a 12,000 seat venue some years ago.

[IceNarcissus]

In response to earlier posts, I think Vancouver's venues ARE being planned with beauty in mind. However the aesthetics are very deconstructed and angular, very much like the modern architecture houses in the 30's and 40's but with more curvature, "raw" surfaces, and "green construction". They remind me of some really great Dutch modern architecture and design, except minus all the high gloss black features common in that period of Dutch design.

Also X, I see a picture with some of the VANOC ceremonial types handling green and blue stones. Are those going to be the competition stone colors? It would be kind of neat because it would be curling stones to match the games look, but aren't red and yellow international competition standards so they are easier to see in contrast?

[Faster]

In response to earlier posts, I think Vancouver's venues ARE being planned with beauty in mind. However the aesthetics are very deconstructed and angular, very much like the modern architecture houses in the 30's and 40's but with more curvature, "raw" surfaces, and "green construction". They remind me of some really great Dutch modern architecture and design, except minus all the high gloss black features common in that period of Dutch design.

Also X, I see a picture with some of the VANOC ceremonial types handling green and blue stones. Are those going to be the competition stone colors? It would be kind of neat because it would be curling stones to match the games look, but aren't red and yellow international competition standards so they are easier to see in contrast?

Green and blue are used in some tournaments, but the IOC in connection with the World Curling Associate that has a set of stones that are used at each games, first introduced at Salt Lake City. Its to keep Olympic competition the same, as varying stones can give varying teams advantages and disadvantages so all things are kept constant.

[mr.x]

In response to earlier posts, I think Vancouver's venues ARE being planned with beauty in mind. However the aesthetics are very deconstructed and angular, very much like the modern architecture houses in the 30's and 40's but with more curvature, "raw" surfaces, and "green construction". They remind me of some really great Dutch modern architecture and design, except minus all the high gloss black features common in that period of Dutch design.

In other words, the venues are very Vancouver-esque. A lot of Vancouver's public institutions and community/recreational centres have the same type of architecture.

[Jim856796]

The Olympic Curling Centre is supposed to be converted into a recreation centre after the Games, so are the stands in this arena temporary?

[mr.x]

^ yes, the stands are temporary.

[fisher]

I happen to like all of the olympic venues (this, richmond oval, convention centre, and olympic village) - they fit in quite well and are all legacy buildings in their own right. I love the Richmond Oval though, and with it being right on the waterfront is perfectly situated. I think they compliment the cityscape nicely.

I do wish Vancouver would take some more risks with it's architecture. I think one of the most daring was the Vancouver Library. As much as the 'city of glass' has it's appeal - it is starting to get stale. I like the design ideas being thrown around for the Vancouver Art Gallery, and let's build some condo's that look a little different (The Grace, RitzCarlton (shame it's delay/demise), Woodward's even). Arthur Erickson (RIP) also did give us some cool buildings - love them or hate them, they do stand out.

And Czar - you do typify what most think of americans - loud, brash, abonoxious, and mad if every one else doesn't completely agree with your point of view. You sir are the American Sterotype. I have met many a great Yankee who dispel the myth that all American's are like that, but you do fit the bill nicely. We do laugh at the silly things you say and are quite used to the lunacy of it, and it's why we send our comedians your way - because we think you need to relax, and laugh (maybe even at yourselves)

Do throw your punches Czar, but this was theraputic enough for me. I won't find a need to respond. Serenity Now.