After receiving $110,000 from the Sport Legacy Fund, proponents of Squamish's Sports Legacy Park that would include ski jumps for training purposes are looking forward to taking the next step to make the park a reality.
"Our original intent, and it remains our intent, was to create one large asset for the use of as many people in the community as possible, that we could point to after the 2010 Olympics to say, 'This is something that we got as a result of our efforts and our work in that capacity,'" said Denise Imbeau, Callaghan Winter Sports Club (CWSC) spokesperson.
Despite the Legacy Fund allocation, the proposal still faces one significant hurdle - it has yet to secure tenure on the portion of Crown land requested between the Squamish Valley Rod and Gun Club and Raven Drive. The application is being processed but it could be six months before it is approved or denied, Imbeau said.
However, CWSC is confident it will be approved.
The proposed multi-use facility has been a dream of the CWSC since the group rallied together to create the Callaghan Local Organizing Committee (CALOC), which supported VANOC with the Nordic sports and Whistler Olympic Park in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
According to Imbeau, it was CALOC's efforts that secured the Sports Legacy Fund.
"VANOC was really clear that they were awarding Squamish this amount because we had been so supportive in all of the volunteering," Imbeau said.
"At the awarding of the money, VANOC made a direct link that it [the funding] was all to do with the support CWSC and CALOC had given up to and during the Winter Games."
The Sports Legacy Park in its entirety - with all the bells and whistles - would have cost about $838,000, or $712,000 after the in-kind value of volunteer labour is factored in. But when it became apparent how many proposals were vying for the Legacy Fund money, CWSC decided to scale back its proposal and requested $375,000.
"The $838,000 was a more grandiose vision and then we scaled it back to what we could live with," she said.
"For $375,000 we'd get a good start - we'd get our land, we'd get our jumps, we'd get the paved trail and we could start to create a place. And I think once we had a place, we hoped to get the other groups involved."
CWSC had 23 letters of support attached to its original project proposal sent to the District of Squamish - including letters from Cross Country Canada, Squamish Chamber of Commerce, Biathlon B.C., Squamish Seniors Centre, Cycling B.C. and Squamish Off Road Cycling Association (SORCA).
Imbeau said the idea of incorporating a mountain bike skills park into the Sports Legacy Park was actually discussed with SORCA at the time.
"Everybody had a little something they'd like to add on and we thought 'OK, if we create the place and location and a facility to build off of (including office space and a place to lock up equipment), then we could work on the different components,'" she said.
She said CWSC thought "cutting it back to $375,000 would be fairly bare bones," but is thankful the organization's proposal received some money.
"We were very, very pleased that we were awarded any money because there were many groups that were given nothing and didn't even make the last round," she said. "We were thrilled to be in the top three and very appreciative of being one of two that received the funds."
Imbeau was disappointed at several comments made by council and community members in the past two weeks criticizing the Sport Legacy Park's feasibility.
"This proposal is about more than Nordic sports, but the Nordic sports would be a platform," she said.
"It is a newer thing in the community, but I think it's catching on. We do have 500 season passholders in the Callaghan Valley, we have three retail outlets that sell Nordic sports gear and we have a lot of people who are involved in this sport and do it for cross-training purposes."
She also reiterated her sentiments from CWSC's council presentation about every sport being new at some stage.
"In my lifetime, almost everything is new," she said.
"In my lifetime, mountain biking is new and it was an interface with the loggers. In my lifetime golf is new, and in my lifetime the soccer field is new. I picked rocks off the soccer field. These are things that have caught on as time goes on but everything is new at some point."
Imbeau said she believes there's room for all these sports in Squamish.
"I think it's shortsighted and it doesn't show a lot of vision or imagination to believe it never will catch on," she said.
"Ten years ago mountain biking wasn't so popular. Nobody knew what the Test of Metal was, nobody was involved and if we had said then, 'Let's not spend any money on trails because we don't have the people doing it,' then the people wouldn't have been able to engage in it."
