Opportunities for Squamish to get involved in the 2010 Winter Olympics are looking smaller than ever now that VANOC has decided not to use Squamish's as a transportation hub during the Games. While a transportation plan for the Olympics has yet to be unveiled, the Business Park was initially considered as an interchange where people travelling from Vancouver to Whistler would be able to switch buses. It would have ensured a stream of Olympic-related traffic stopped into town, helping fuel festivals such as Wild at Art.But on May 1, that opportunity died. In a letter to council, VANOC's services and games operations executive vice-president Terry Wright said a Squamish interchange was no longer being considered."In regard to our transportation planning, although we initially envisioned the transport hub as a key component of our bus system, given the concerns expressed by Squamish council around using lot 40 [the Business Park] and the related costs, we are now confident that we can achieve our objectives utilizing a combination of Vancouver-based park and rides and venue-based solutions," Wright stated.In a later statement, he also encouraged council to keep their festivals aimed at local residents rather than visitors."Traditionally, celebrations within the host city downtown core - in our case, the main centres within Vancouver and Whistler - naturally attract the majority of Games visitors because they are close to competitions, venues and accommodation. In the case of neighbouring cities and communities, the feedback we've received from previous organizing committees is that the primary audience for celebrations in these communities is the local population, and we recommend that Squamish consider this feedback during their planning," Wright stated.Mayor Ian Sutherland said VANOC was simply issuing advice about festival promotions in neighbouring communities, and the Wild at Art festival will remain a popular event both in and out of town. However he said the decision to nix the transportation hub was "very disappointing.""We don't agree that it's anything council did," he said, responding to Wright's suggestion that council's concerns had something to do with the transportation hub being scrapped."All we asked them to do is look at more than one site and consider costs and benefits of other sites," he said. "We had never said 'no'."Sutherland said VANOC's interest in the Business Park led the district to suggest transportation options to get visitors to other parts of town, such as West Coast Railway Heritage Park, to boost participation in local festivals. "If they'd found a way to move people downtown the price might have been zero for the land," he said. Otherwise, he said the price would have been market value. "We didn't even get a chance to talk about price."He said he had envisioned visitors returning from Whistler stopping in town to explore local events, then carrying on to Vancouver in the evening.Sutherland said the community did not find out about the decision until now since the transportation discussion involved the leasing of land. It was discussed during an in camera session, making it closed to the public and media. He shared the letter with The Chief after rumours about the decision sprung up."At the time, it was still part of land/lease negotiations. That is no longer the case," he said.Coun. Greg Gardner said it is the fourth major blow that has come to Squamish since the Olympic bid was won, adding it was also upsetting to learn that Squamish would not be the north terminus for a passenger ferry, not be the site of a Paralympic arena and not host the media during the Games.Sutherland said he is now turning his attention to transportation options for Squamish residents. "We haven't really gotten satisfactorily answer to that question yet."
