Media Releases >  Media Releases Archive  > SFU surprised and discouraged by Olympic Oval decision

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Contact:
Kathryn Aberle, 604.291.3929; aberle@sfu.ca

A significant investment in time and money, and close to four years active commitment on the part of Simon Fraser University, was not enough to keep the promised 2010 speed skating oval on Burnaby Mountain. SFU was selected to be part of Vancouver's Olympic bid, worked very hard to support the bid effort and shared in the success when the 2010 Winter Olympic Games were awarded to Vancouver.

In an announcement earlier today the Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) reversed the decision of the bid committee and chose the City of Richmond as the new site for the oval, leaving officials at SFU frustrated and disappointed.

“The university holds a signed venue agreement negotiated in good faith with the bid committee,” says Michael Stevenson, president of SFU. “When we were made aware of VANOC's concerns about costs we revised our proposal consistent with the financial parameters set out in our original agreement. There are no cost overruns or financial difficulties unique to the SFU proposal in spite of inaccurate reports to the contrary. This facility can't be constructed for less, regardless of venue.”

With the building site already prepared, the university was ready to begin work on the oval immediately. SFU has a history of planning and constructing large-scale capital projects, and currently manages a construction portfolio in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The university enjoys an excellent record for bringing projects in on time and on budget.

The decision to move the Olympic oval away from SFU means the loss of an unparalleled community legacy. “This isn't just about recreational space for students. It's about community access and university-based research ranging from childhood obesity to mobility problems in the elderly,” said Stevenson. The SFU proposal calls for the construction of a large-scale multi-purpose indoor field facility, which would be out-fitted with a speed-skating oval track and associated facilities during the Olympic events. The venue would then easily revert back to a multi-purpose field, sports training facility and research/instructional centre, and be available to student and community recreational users as well as varsity athletes and Canada's national team members.

“The rich legacy outlined in our proposal would serve competitive and recreational sport at all levels; health and wellness; and world-class kinesiology, psychology and health science programmes. These are legacies that could only be provided by a premier university such as SFU.” This facility and its academic and community uses would have had long-lasting impacts on the region, the province and the nation.

The value of SFU's proposal was supported strongly by the mayors of the surrounding communities whose municipalities are at the heart of the Lower Mainland's population density.

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