An envisioned $575,000 display case of Olympic memorabilia has ballooned in size, scope and cost at the $178 million Richmond Olympic Oval.
Richmond City Council voted unanimously on October 22 to endorse a $6 million to $10 million plan to build the Richmond Olympic Experience museum to commemorate the 2010 Winter Olympics and Richmond’s sport history. It would be located on mezzanine level beside the Legacy Lounge and contain the museum, theatre and interactive zone.
The $575,000 left over from the Legacy Conversion Fund will be added to $1.5 million from the Oval capital reserve and a five-year spread of $2.5 million from the hotel room tax. The shortfall is expected to be covered by $1 million to $1.5 million in sponsorship, and Richmond is applying for a $1 million federal grant. It is expected to cost between $250,000 and $300,000 to operate annually, and an average $15 admission fee will be charged.
Richmond has a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Olympic Committee and became the only North American member of the 20-member International Olympic Museums Network on September 27. Richmond chief administrative officer George Duncan was in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the OMN’s seventh annual meeting. Criteria for membership include a December 31, 2013, deadline to open. Calgary and Los Angeles have museums commemorating the 1988 Winter and 1984 Summer Olympics, respectively.
The de facto museum of the 2010 Games is the BC Sports Hall of Fame, with its permanent Olympic gallery at BC Place Stadium. A Richmond city staff report says “positive relationships have been established” for collaboration with the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary.
The flagship museum opened in 1993 at Lausanne and is under a major renovation. Last December, three employees were fired and the former gift shop manager was accused of fraud in a $1.85 million embezzlement scandal.
Crowd control
One of the busiest, most important weekends at BC Place Stadium failed to fill the joint.
The defending Grey Cup champion BC Lions announced 30,102 for the October 19 West division-clinching win over the Edmonton Eskimos. The Vancouver Whitecaps ended their home regular season schedule with their fifth 21,000- announced attendance of 2012, but lost 1-0 to the Portland Timbers. Attendance of less than 52,000 was announced over two dates in three days at the 54,500-seat stadium, renovated for at least $514 million of taxpayers’ funds. The Whitecaps averaged 19,475 and attendance fell 4.56% from 2011. The Lions are averaging 29,606, a boost of 1,350 per game. The Lions had hoped for more.
Whitecaps tickets range between $20 and $140 per game. Lions tickets are between $43 and $133, but also offer the $220 Edgewater Lounge’s Club Orange in the east end zone on level 3. Add parking or taxi costs, beer and a hot dog at the stadium and suddenly there’s sticker shock or buyers’ remorse. Take your pick. It’s not cheap to get out to games anymore. Especially when discounts are negligible. 7-Eleven and Safeway used to offer half-price or two-for-one Lions tickets. Now they’re just $5 off for end zones per ticket on a pair. The Whitecaps are wisely introducing $199 college and university student season ticket packages next year.
But more needs to be done.
Vancouver is a notoriously costly city, and the harmonized sales tax certainly didn’t help discretionary spending on food, beverage and sporting event tickets. All games are available on high definition, with high quality sound. Some fans are choosing to cocoon.
Without some marketing gimmicks, the trend could be irreversible. Maybe the Whitecaps and Lions need to return to the strategies of the late 1970s and early 1980s with halftime or post-game concerts by big name acts and premium giveaways for the first 10,000 through the gates.
