The Richmond Olympic Oval has been named as one of the possible venues for the Indigenous-led 2030 Olympic Games bid.
Details about how B.C. First Nations will team up with the cities of Vancouver and Whistler for the bid were released earlier this week in a feasibility study.
And although it doesn’t appear Richmond will be one of the host cities – as it was in 2010 – the Oval is being touted once more for the long track speed skating on the list of event venues.
It cost around $24 million post-2010 Games to convert the arena’s floor space into the giant community facility enjoyed today by Richmond residents and several high-performance athletes.
Conversion costs were paid for by VANOC last time
Those funds came from the Olympic Oval conversion budget — money set up by the 2010 Games’ VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee).
Clay Adams, spokesperson for the City of Richmond, said that “some preliminary discussions have occurred with the Canadian Olympic Committee” about “temporarily transitioning” the Oval to its original design.
“However, we have emphasized that it must return to use as a community venue afterwards given its importance as a recreational and sporting facility.”
As for the conversion costs and where that money might come from, Adams added that “discussions have not reached that level of detail” but noted that “it will certainly be an element for consideration should things move forward.”
The premise of the 2030 bid, as well as being spearheaded by B.C. First Nations, centres around the fact that many of the facilities required to host the Games are already built.
The Oval cost $178 million to build, $60 million of which came from the federally-funded VANOC.
The Oval itself cost the city $118 million, with about $50 million of that paid for with casino revenue and the rest coming largely from the $141 million sale of land around the Oval, formerly an RV Park and fields.
2030 Olympic Games bid decision to come later this year
The plan states the Games will run from Feb. 8 to 24, 2030, with the villages open from Jan. 29 to Feb. 27. The Paralympic Winter Games will run from March 8 to 17, 2030.
A decision on whether to submit a formal bid to the International Olympic Committee is expected in the fall of 2022, while a breakdown of the costs is expected in mid-July.
BC Place is the planned venue for the opening and closing ceremonies for Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games will also close at Hastings Park.
A number of skiing and snowboarding events would be held at Sun Peaks, near Kamloops.
The 2010 Games cost about $4 billion, including an expansion of the Sea-to-Sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler.
