Vancouver View: Canada Day; Airplane; Posters

Spotted at Boeing in Seattle: the Vancouver 2010-decorated Air Canada jet. (JetPhotos.net)The Vancouver 2010 countdown will be celebrated in both Vancouver and Ottawa Wednesday, Canada Day.

A concert at Parliament Hill will feature Vancouver singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan and Squamish, B.C. aboriginal hoop dancer Alex Wells. McLachlan headlined the Vancouver 2010 one-year countdown concert in Vancouver on Feb. 12 and is expected to perform during the Games.

Vancouver 2010 mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi are appearing at Canada Day at Canada Place in Vancouver. A street party, parade and fireworks are planned for the area surrounding the Expo 86 legacy that will host the main press centre next February.

The mascot trio will also appear in Whistler at the grand opening of the Olympic Store in Deer Lodge.

Olympic Posters Ready to Hang

VANOC CEO John Furlong began the Canada Day countdown June 29 when the 2010 Games’ official posters were unveiled at the Capital Infocentre.

Furlong, joined by Canadian Olympic team chef de mission Nathalie Lambert, showed off the two-part, stylized maple leaf prints. The left side represents the Paralympics and the right side the Olympics. Inside the maple leaf is the psychedelic, blue and green VANOC look of the Games that includes various patterns and icons representing the host city, like an aboriginal canoe, seaplane and Canada geese.

The complete, Ben Hulse-designed poster is being sold for C$30 or C$289 for a deluxe version.

The Montreal 1976 poster was a variation of the five Olympic rings. For Calgary 1988, the poster featured the Games’ logo rising above the Alberta city’s skyline.

Roof Boss Change at Olympic Dome

The supervisor of the embattled roof control room at B.C. Place Stadium is gone, according to sources.

Bob Maveety’s last day of work was June 25. Sources said Maveety did not depart voluntarily from the venue that will serve as the Olympic Stadium. General manager Howard Crosley said by email that he was “not able to provide specifics on the individual employment details regarding our staff.”

Crosley said changes were needed in engineering. “This is in anticipation of the increased operational demands that will be placed on B.C. Place during the upcoming 2010 Winter Games, and the specialized technology that our new retractable roof will bring,” Crosley wrote.

Maveety did not return a phone call.

On April 9, provincial workplace safety regulator WorkSafeBC cited B.C. Place operator B.C. Pavilion Corporation for breaching the Workers’ Compensation Act. The damning report said workers were not properly trained to operate the air-supported, fabric roof, more than two years after it ripped and collapsed under snow.

The roof will be removed after the 2010 Games and replaced with a retractable system. The provincial government is spending $316 million on pre-and-post Games’ renovations.

Vancouver Briefs

...A labor union says installation of uninsulated pipes at the Vancouver Olympic Village will lead to condensation and mold. Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson said it’s the responsibility of developer Millennium. He did not know if it would cause more cost overruns at the $1.1 billion complex, but said city manager and VANOC director Penny Ballem is investigating.

The president of Canada’s TV rights holder said it’s overcoming the challenge of the recession. “We’re doing well on sales,” CTV Rogers’ Keith Pelley told the Toronto Star. “We’re on plan.” Pelley said 20 advertisers are on-board, led by McDonald’s and Samsung. He told Around The Rings in February that some clients would be competitors of VANOC and IOC sponsors. (Prices reported in U.S. dollars unless noted. Exchange rate: USD$1=CAD$1.154)

With reporting from Bob Mackin.