For a look at the latest developments at the Olympic Village site, head on over to GVTV.ca to view a four-minute video update that aired on October 18th.
At present, soil remediation and the construction of roads and public parks and walkways is underway, along with the installation of underground utilities.
The video also includes some early pictures of the future inlet that will provide moorage for kayakers, as well as the separate island and intertidal inlet that will sit at the mouth of the Village's wetlands and rainwater drainage system.
So far, there hasn't been any pre-construction work done on the actual building sites, although it's scheduled to begin in January 2007, once the roads are completed.
No word yet on the final design plans either, which were due to be presented in 'early fall 2006'.
On September 20th, the Vancouver Sun reported that the developer and the City were still arguing over the design. It would seem that in an effort to emphasize the project's environmental sustainability, city planners are pushing for some rather obvious architectural statements, while the developer would prefer to take a more subtle approach. (On this issue, we're siding with the developer - let's not hit people over the head with our environmental evangelism).
There's also some concern over whether the New York-based architect chosen for the project's most prominent waterfront building will be able to meet the City's other main requirment, which is for the Olympic Village to showcase West Coast Design. On the other hand, local talent is still being used - Arthur Erickson has been tapped to design the community centre.
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