(ATR) The Vancouver Olympic Flame will apparently be housed in B.C. Place Stadium, making it the first cauldron kept indoors.
While the location of the cauldron is so far unannounced by VANOC, there are clues in an April 2009 report from David Atkins, the producer of the 2010 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.
The report contained contained a plea for major works in B.C. Place Stadium. A list of 21 items were “required so that a world-class ceremonies can take place,” said the report titled “Ceremonies Capital Works from David Atkins Enterprises Productions Canada”.
“The opening ceremonies are a vital part of any Olympics and set the tone and vibrancy for the rest of the Games,” said the document.
“If these works are not completed then the ceremonies will suffer and this will directly impact on the Games,” warns the Atkins report.
Key on the wish list was the building of the Olympic cauldron in the center of the stadium’s field of play, under a 4 meter x 4 m x 4 m patch of concrete. Atkins wanted a concrete-lined, water-tight chamber with a 1 m diameter, 13 m deep clear internal shaft to be fueled by a purpose-built, 25 million BTU natural gas pipeline.
The report said carbon dioxide detectors and air pressure system upgrades were necessary. The report also wanted all stadium aisles covered in cool-gray, non-slip paint with drapes at audience entrances.
Atkins required the removal of ceiling-hung floodlights and speakers and advertising boards and screens. In their place are rigging for trusses, electric chain hoists, catenary and cable systems and five circular drapes needed to obscure a stained ceiling.
“The eyes of the world will really be on the stadium,” said the report. “It will be impossible to hide the stained roof liner from all the television cameras and world’s media and this will leave a lasting impression.”
Most items in the report are listed as “managed and contracted” by stadium operator B.C. Pavilion Corporation.
The VANOC board voted secretly six weeks after the Atkins report to spend another $8.3 million at B.C. Place. VANOC deputy CEO Dave Cobb said when the transaction was disclosed in the June 16 quarterly financial report that it was a capital cost "directly tied to the show that our executive producer wants.”
"We like to keep what we're doing secret until the ceremonies happen for the surprise element," Cobb said.
After the Games, B.C. Place will undergo a replacement of the air-supported fabric roof with a German-style retractable system. The roof ripped and collapsed when a heating system to keep ice and snow from accumulating was not used during a Jan. 2007 snowstorm.
USOC Employees get H1N1 Vaccine
More than 100 USOC employees are getting vaccinated against the H1N1 virus ahead of the Vancouver Olympics.
The USOC chief medical officer gave the vaccine to employees on Tuesday at the USOC training center in Colorado Springs.
U.S. Olympians have already been offered vaccines against the flu.
The U.S. Surgeon General and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined with the USOC in coordinating the vaccination effort, which also included a “vaccination event” at the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
With reporting from Bob Mackin.
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