VANCOUVER - The opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics are three years away, but for most people living in Vancouver the Games remain a dot on the horizon, like a ship far off in the distance.
Venue construction - pegged at $580 million - is proceeding ahead of schedule and some test events are expected to be held as early as this winter.
Even when the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee, known as VANOC, went back to the federal and provincial governments this year seeking an additional $110 million in taxpayer money for venues, it caused only minor public mutterings.
On Monday, to mark the fact that the start of the Games is three years away, VANOC will unveil a giant countdown clock at the downtown Vancouver Art Gallery.
Watching the clock tick away the remaining days, hours and minutes until the Feb. 12, 2010, opening ceremonies will bring home the magnitude of hosting the Games to many B.C. residents, said John Furlong, VANOC's chief executive officer.
"I think for people that aren't too close to it, it's not that easy of a project to grapple with," he said. "For people (the clock) will really remind them the entire city is on show and it's for all of us to make it a success.
"I think it will drive up the awareness and will also drive up the sense of responsibility."
Olympic construction is just a ripple in the ocean of building currently going on in Vancouver.
The Olympic speedskating oval is being built in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. Work has yet to begin on the athletes village in the downtown False Creek area.
The Games hockey tournament will be held in GM Place and figure skating in the Pacific Coliseum, arenas that are already built.
The Olympic Games will last 17 days, with events being held in both Vancouver and about 120 kilometres north in Whistler. The Paralympic Games will follow from March 12 to 21, with all the events except sledge hockey and wheelchair curling scheduled for Whistler.
The proposed operational budget for the Games is $1.7 billion, which will come from sponsorship, TV revenues, ticket and souvenir sales. That does not include the $580 million of taxpayer money being spent to build the competition venues.
VANOC's last quarterly financial report trumpeted the fact the committee had realized $115 million in new sponsorship agreements in 2006 - about $15 million more than projected.
Construction expenses
But the first cries of "I told you so" were uttered this year when VANOC was forced to go to the federal and provincial government asking for additional money for venue construction. The original $470-million proposed construction costs contained in the Vancouver bid book was based on 2003 dollars and didn't take into account soaring construction costs in B.C.
Some eyebrows were also raised this summer when an official from the 2006 Turin Games called VANOC's proposed building expenditures "a little bit too small."
Furlong quickly countered that VANOC's construction costs are about half of those in Turin because there is less to build.
Many have also questioned the $175 million budgeted for security, which seems low compared to the $290 million Turin spent.
There is a debate of what the actual cost of the Games will be to taxpayers.
The B.C. government is spending $775 million to upgrade the highway that links Vancouver to Whistler. Another $2 billion is being spent to build a transit line between the airport and downtown Vancouver, with a stop at the athletes village.
Vancouver's convention centre, which will be the site of the main broadcast facility, is undergoing a $615-million improvement.
None of these expenses are included in VANOC's budget, but all result from the Games.
Last fall Arn van Iersel, B.C.'s auditor general, issued a report saying the Olympics will cost Canadians $2.5 billion, with $1.5 billion of that being picked up by B.C. residents.
On Thursday, Turin organizers reported than the 2006 Winter Games posted a projected shortfall of US$32 million on their operating budget of US$1.58 billion, believed to be one of the first Olympic deficits in decades.
Critics of the Games argue VANOC's bright press releases and sunny outlook hide a very cloudy financial picture.
Chris Shaw, spokesman for 2010 Watch, said VANOC remains murky in the area of fiscal transparency. A Games business plan isn't expected to be released to the public until later this year.
Opponents also argue the Games are not as green as originally promised and wonder if VANOC will keep its commitment to turn over 250 units from the athletes village to social housing.
Shaw is blunt when asked about the 2010 legacy.
"Massive debt for the citizens of British Columbia and we will be paying it off for a generation," he said. "That's what we have to look forward to.
"And we will have some white elephant structures that . . . we will probably want to take down because they will be in the way and things most people will never use. We will also still have thousands of homeless people. We won't have solved those problems because we put all our money into this 17-day party."
Profit in question
Furlong hesitates to say the Games will show a profit.
"There are many things along the way that will change and move," he said. "Our view is that we are being set up for success and we are doing the right things to really guarantee that kind of success."
The B.C. provincial government is on the hook to pay any Games debts.
Making sure the competition venues were completed early has always been a priority for VANOC.
"One of the lessons we learned from the past Games was to get the venues out of the way as early as you can," said Tim Gayda, VANOC's vice-president of sport. "We look at the trouble Turin had and Athens. A lot of it was because of the late delivery of venues.
"The earlier we can get that out of the way, the more we can concentrate on planning of the Games, building up the systems and really getting a feel of operating the venue."
By the end of this summer work is expected to be completed in Whistler on the C$99.9-million sliding centre, $115-million Nordic competition venue and the $26.2 million in upgrades to the men's and women's downhill ski courses.
A World Cup alpine ski event is scheduled to be held in Whistler next February.
Athletes say having early access to venues will give them an edge in meeting the Canadian Olympic Committee's goal of winning at least 35 medals and leading the medal count in 2010.
"It's absolutely essential I spent time on the track well before the Games and the sooner the better," said cross-country skier Chandra Crawford, who won a gold medal in the sprint race at Turin. "Home-course advantage, you have to cultivate it.
"We need to really get to know the trails and the weather patterns."
Looking ahead, Furlong said the next challenge facing VANOC is setting up a ticket program by the end of next year.
"It's a complex program," he said. "It needs to be framed up and we need to be ready by the early part of 2008 to go public."
VANOC also needs to begin recruiting the estimated 25,000 volunteers needed for the Games. Furlong also wants to see the Games' awareness level increased in Canada.
