Olympic bid exploration committee seeks to 'bring the facts forward,' leader says

Calgary's Olympic Bid Exploration Committee, on the job since September, brought its first update to city council last week.

The volunteer committee is putting together a feasibility study on whether or not Calgary should make a bid for the 2026 Olympics. In June, city council approved $5 million for the study.

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Former Calgary police chief Rick Hanson, who heads the 17-member committee, spoke to the Calgary Eyeopener Thursday about the work done so far. Below is an edited version of their conversation.

Q: What has your committee accomplished so far?

A: When the committee was announced in September, that was like saying, "You can now approach the starting line." So the 17 volunteers then had to find office space, hire a general manager and put a team together. We've got some worker bees that we've hired to do the work, and we're bringing in consultants, and now we're rolling along.

Q: It sounds like one of those jobs that creates more questions the more you get into it?

A: It sure does. You go into these things and it's really clear we're not a bid committee. That's where there's so much confusion. We are not a bid committee, we are a bid exploration committee. We have to look at do we have the facilities, are the facilities left over from '88 still good enough to host an Olympics? If not, what would it cost to bring them up to speed? People don't realize there's twice as many events and twice as many athletes as there were in '88.

Q: Have you found anything that knocks Calgary out of the game yet?

A: Strategically, we haven't got to that point.

I think there's two things that will knock us out. One is if we do this assessment and we come back with a number that is too high for people the cost is too high to bring the old facilities up to standard or that there's new facilities that are somehow linked to this. Or the second piece would be if there's just no willingness within the community they just go, 'We don't want this.' There's maybe too much risk associated with the security side, maybe we just don't want the disruption.

Q: You've got people on the committee who clearly want these Games to happen, and some who don't know how they feel. Do you want these Games to happen?

A: I took the assignment very seriously. Your job, your mandate, is to go and get the facts, and I'm good at that.

One of the things I'm very aware of is that we're just going to bring the facts forward. And once we determine what the facts are, we'll be allowed to, I think, make an educated recommendation to council.

Q: The IOC is recommending that bidding facilities look into which existing facilities can be reused. How do you decide whether the Olympic Saddledome can do it again?

A: Back in '88, the Saddledome was adequate for the sports that required that type of facility. But now, with men's hockey, women's hockey, figure skating, curling, all the ice events, we've got to assess and look at how much capacity do we need for the Games, and is it here?

Or and this is a key piece people have to understand we're working really closely with the City of Calgary, because they have a long-range capital plan for the city that has all kinds of capital projects in it. So we're looking at that, to determine if that overlays in any way with what the requirements would be for a Games in 2026. There's so many moving parts, in order for us to come up with an educated position and an informed position on what the next steps may be.

Q: Can you give Calgarians any idea when an answer may come forward from your committee?

A: We're to report back to council on July 29 with a solid recommendation.

Q: Can you do that by then?

A: We're working full out, and it is a ton of work, but we will get it done. This isn't going to be the detailed plan. This is going to say, 'Listen, this is what it's going to cost, here are the challenges, and here are the things we have to consider.'

One thing I need to say is, there's a cost, even if we don't bid, and that is the legacy from 1988 all those venues, which are now getting older. So if we're to continue as a winter sports city, they're going to need an infusion of cash down the road to keep them running.

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener