Vancouver – The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has selected Vancouver-based Sandwell Engineering to design the Whistler Nordic Centre. 

The Nordic Centre will be the site of the cross-country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon and Nordic combined competitions during the 2010 Winter Games.

"We are delighted to be chosen for this unique opportunity to design a venue for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," stated Alan Pyatt, chairman of Sandwell.  "We are a locally owned company, active around the globe, and we strive for excellence in everything we do," said John Bruce, president of Sandwell.

VANOC selected Sandwell after an extensive evaluation of proposals from a number of short-listed firms.

Sandwell's principal partners in the project are:

• ECOSIGN from Whistler—Master Planning
• CJP Architects—design of the ski jumps, with assistance from Edwards Daniels, from Salt Lake City who designed the ski jump facilities for the 2002 Winter Games
• Paul Merrick Architects—design of all buildings
• Thornley BKG Consultants—cost consultants and sustainability advisors
• Ward Consulting—transportation consultant
• Keen Engineering—mechanical consultants

 "Getting started on the design of the Whistler Nordic Centre is a key year-one activity for our Organizing Committee," said John Furlong, chief executive officer of VANOC. "The spectacular setting of the 2010 Nordic Centre will provide an unforgettable experience for athletes and spectators during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games."

Master planning and general site engineering for the Whistler Nordic Centre will begin immediately. The Whistler Nordic Centre will be located in the Callaghan Valley, 22 kilometers south of Whistler Village.  The project is to include:

• Three stadiums with a projected spectator capacity of 12,000 people in each facility, to be achieved through temporary seating and standing room for people in the finish areas and along the trails.
• 50 to 100 km of trails
• K90 and K120 ski jumps
• Biathlon facilities

The IOC selected Vancouver as the Host City of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at its session in Prague on July 2, 2003. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. The Nominating Entities of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee are the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee and the Lil'wat and Squamish First Nations.

-2010-

VANOC Media Contacts:

Sam Corea (Vancouver)         604.806.1019

Maureen Douglas (Whistler)   604.932.2010