Local Nordic sports clubs will have the opportunity to utilize multi-million dollar, world class facilities in Whistler once the 2010 Olympics are over.
Keith Bennett, president and CEO of the Whistler 2010 Sport Legacies Foundation met with Nordic sports representatives Saturday (Oct. 24) to deliver the news. He said recreational clubs in the Sea to Sky Corridor will have access to several of the Olympic facilities once the non-profit organization takes over ownership and operation in June 2010.
A Nordic centre worth $120 million, a sliding centre worth $109 million and an athletes' centre worth $40 to $50 million will be at the disposal of local recreational athletes as well as professional athletes.
"One of the really key things for [the foundation] is having all of the local communities be a part of these in particular the Nordic centre. It's helping build a relationship between Whistler and Squamish that hasn't been there before," said Bennett, a longtime Whistler resident. "It's taking it to the next level."
Having Olympic facilities open for use after the Games will make the area one of the best in the world for Nordic training.
"Nordic skiing in the Whistler-Vancouver area has always been kind of low-key but we really have the opportunity to jump it up to national and international levels," said Bennett.
He said the foundation was created well in advance of the 2010 Games to ensure the multi-million dollar venues like the Whistler Olympic Park would not be limited to competitive use only.
"They could have just gone ahead and built a competition venue and then handed it over and go ski on competition trails. Those of you who've skied competition trails understand that's probably not the best."
After the Winter Games, the Sliding Centre (including the luge run) will be open to the public to enjoy.
The Athletes' Centre was built as a high performance training centre with areas focusing specifically on recovery, cardio, weight training and medical attention. In the post-Games era, the Athletes' Centre will be a major draw for any high caliber athlete seeking to train.
"When you get right down to it, without access to medical [facilities] and accommodations none of these things would work in post-games for national training," Bennett said.
The details regarding what exactly the public will be able to use in the Athletes' Centre have not yet been straightened out, but Bennett assured the public would have access to the facility.
"We're working with Canada Sport Pacific and they want the general public in there."
The foundation wants to improve the Nordic sport experience for recreational and professional skiers without going into debt.
"We're a not-for-profit society but we're also a not for loss society," Bennett said. "So the challenge is also to take the money that we get and try to run as many programs as we can."
Bennett added visitors would also notice substantially fewer staff after the Olympic Games.
"You're not going to see competition trails groomed 16 feet wide, every day of the week," he laughed.
