page_title: Richmond Olympic Oval
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Richmond Olympic Oval / Construction
caption_attribution_description: Richmond Olympic Oval - Women's 5000 meter finals at Vancouver 2010 Olympics
context_page_description: The Richmond Olympic Oval is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed skating rink. The venue has since been reconfigured and now serves as a community multi-sport park and includes two ice hockey rinks, two running tracks, a climbing wall, a rowing tank and a flexible area which can be used for, among other sports, basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer and table tennis.
  The Olympic bid called for the oval to be located on the grounds of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, but Richmond was instead selected in 2004. Although twice the price of the SFU alternative, the location was selected because the city offered to cover all costs exceeding $60 million. Construction started in 2006, cost $178 million CAD and the venue opened on 12 December 2008. In addition to speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the venue has hosted the 2009 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships. Designed by CannonDesign, the oval's elements are made to resemble the heron.
context_section_description: Work on Vancouver's bid process started in 1998 by the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Bid Society, replaced by the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation in 2002. SFU started planning their grounds as a potential speed skating oval in 2000, SFU pledged to finance $5 million of the venue, in addition to the land. The 2010 Games Operating Trust was established in November 2002 with a capital of $110 million, equally financed by the provincial and federal governments, to subsidize post-Olympic operation of selected venues. Forty percent of the payouts would be used to cover the operating costs of the speed skating oval.
  The bid book called for the speed skating oval to be located on the premises of Simon Fraser University atop Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby. This would result in both of Greater Vancouver's major universities receiving a new sports venue, as the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre ice hockey rink would be built at the University of British Columbia. The bid book cited a construction cost of $63.7 million, which would give a 20,000-square-meter (220,000 sq ft) arena and met all requirements for speed skating at the Olympics. The post-Olympic operating costs of the oval, along with the Whistler Sliding Centre and Whistler Olympic Park, were according to the bid book to be covered by $71 million endowment trust. The legacy plans for the venue were to convert it to a multi-sports park, with the speed skating track being removed.
  Two months after being awarded the games on 2 July 2003, the responsibility for planning the Olympics were transferred to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). They started reviewing the plans for the various venues, and costs started to increase for the oval. At the same time the Richmond City Council started working on plans to instead locate the venue there. UBC also started working on a proposal for a speed skating oval in the University Endowment Lands, which could then be built in conjunction with the hockey arena. Chris Giacomantonio, president of the Simon Fraser Student Society, stated that he was opposed to the project, as the university's contribution would give little benefit for students. The anticipated cost overruns were caused both because of a general shortage in construction labor, and challenging geological conditions at the proposed site.
  Two formal proposals were submitted: one from Richmond and a revised bid from SFU. The Richmond bid was for a significantly larger venue, at 33,000 square meters (360,000 sq ft). Unlike SFU, the city was willing to pay for most of the construction cost, including all cost overruns, limiting VANOC's costs to $60 million. The budget for the Richmond Olympic Oval was $155 million, while the cost of building a venue at SFU was $78.6 million. VANOC announced on 17 August 2004 that they had selected Richmond as the site of the Olympic oval. VANOC stated that in addition to a cost cap, the Richmond alternative featured better transport, as it would be located on the SkyTrain's Canada Line. Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan stated that the price increases were subject to cost escalation caused by increased general construction costs, rather than cost overrun.
  Planning of the venue was centered around its post-Olympic use, rather than its function during the games. It was incorporated into the River Green development project, which saw $2 billion spent on real estate development along the section of the Fraser River. Financing of the venue was split between Richmond City Council and VANOC, with the former guaranteeing for any cost overruns. The city allocated its funding for the venue from several sources: $50 million in revenue sharing with River Rock Casino Resort, $54 million from the nearby real estate development, and the remainder from sponsorships and fees on near-by projects.
  The venue's main architect was Bob Johnston, of Canon Design, who had previously worked on the Olympic Oval in Calgary and the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City. A feng shui consultant was used during the design process as it
caption: Interior of the Richmond Olympic Oval during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
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