The Vancouver and Whistler Olympic Villages are now open to provide accommodation and a full range of services for the athletes and team officials.
The Vancouver Olympic Village is located on the southeast side of False Creek in Vancouver, opposite Canada Hockey Place and BC Place Stadiums. It will host 2,730 people during the Games. Once the Games are over the Village will form the first phase of a model sustainable community, housing about 3,000 residents in 1,100 units, including 250 affordable housing units and 100 rental units.
The Whistler Olympic Village, less than 20 minutes from all Whistler competition venues, is a mixture of apartments, townhouses and hostel accommodation. It will host about 2,850 athletes and officials during the Games. After the Games the Village will provide affordable housing for Whistler and social housing for several communities around British Columbia. It will also contain a high-performance training centre for elite athletes.
Meanwhile the Toronto Sun reports a performer who was portraying a ski jumper crashed during a rehearsal earlier this week. Vancouver 2010 communications vice president Renee Smith-Valade would only say, “the injuries are not life-threatening and the performer is in recovery”.
WorkSafeBC spokeswoman Donna Freeman said, “there was no inspection report issued in this case, no compliance orders were issued. A safety officer did meet with the employer”.
There are also reports that about 380 stadium workers were given layoff notices this week. The stadium will close April 7 for up to 18 months while a $458 million retractable roof is installed.
