The Editor,
Okay, think fast. Who finished first in the women's FIS rankings for alpine skiing in 2012? Who was the men's figure skating champion in 2012? Where were the two Winter Olympics preceding Vancouver held? Can't answer some of these questions?
That's because outside of a few weeks every two years, no one pays much attention to the Olympics.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Olympics and I think Richmond has a lot to offer tourists. I just don't think an Olympic museum is one of those things. The Museum of Vancouver is that city's repository for all things Olympic and the BC Sports Hall of Fame has items connected with specific athletes, yet neither of them seem to think a whole museum should be devoted to the subject.
I'm not sure why we think we can pull off something no one else in any other former Olympic city has. I know that if I visited Torino or Salt Lake City (the answer to the third question above) or their respective suburbs, I wouldn't bother to go to a museum devoted to their past Olympic party.
Richmond has much to offer and I think $6 million could be so much better spent than by profiling something that is already old news. (By the way, answers to questions 1 and 2: Lindsey Vonn and Patrick Chan respectively.)
Tracy Cromwell Richmond
