Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 1, 1967, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press wednesday november 1, 1967 76 olympic dream workers shattered i lose jobs attn Westbank wants Bond posted continued finally the committee suggested the City might bid for the i olympics at some later Date when facilities Are More Ade quate than they now arc. Concern it lists several areas of concern. Most important was the Lack of accommodation for athletes and visitors. The committee was told accommodation for about athletes team officials and j judges would have to be provided for in an olympic Village j the Cost of such a cons Ruc Tion program was estimated at million. The report says this could Only be undertaken in Conjunc-1 Tion with a massive Low Cost housing project. As in the Case of Munich and Mexico City the apartments would be available i the athletes during the j games and could then be used As housing for the elderly. J political whether or not the Council of the City of Winnipeg and the government of Canada and the l government of Manitoba would support a massive Urban re-1 Newal program for Winnipeg by j 1976, and be prepared to provide i the necessary funds to make it a reality is a political decision which could Only be reached following a study in depth of All relevant the report says. E. G. Simpson the City s director of Urban renewal and housing said in a letter it would i take considerable time to arrive at sound conclusions As to the j feasibility of providing housing in this Way. I his views were substantiated j by a Winnipeg architect who i told committee that such a number of suites would t be marketable immediately after i the games. 700 suites the letter said the annual i greater Winnipeg absorption rate for new apartment accommodation was about 700 to provide suitable accommodation for the athletes Between and housing units would be needed. Accommodation for visitors is in equally bad shape the report said. Based on an estimated visitors the number expected j in Mexico City next year and in Munich West Germany in 1972 Winnipeg would need at least an additional. Hotel rooms by 1976. The hotel and Motel accommodation which is anticipated to be available in Winnipeg in.1976, would be insufficient to provide accommodation Over and above that required in the Normal course for the travelling it says. Additional sports facilities needed if Winnipeg were to stage the 1967 olympics would Cost an estimated s27 million says the report. These facilities would include one additional swimming Pool i with a seating capacity of 7.500 j one smaller Arena with about seats another Arena with i a seating rapacity of two More practice tracks and extensive Shore Side facilities for yachting. In addition to that the report says the seating capacity of almost every existing facility has to be increased and major changes will have to be made in several cases. Arts the committee also expressed concern about the Al Mility of the City to Cope with the exhibitions of Fine arts that must accompany the staging of the olympic games. Although Winnipeg undoubtedly has a sound and expanding cultural base the provision of a Fine arts program of olympic standards would be a formidable i the report then quotes a free press article which appeared last August outlining the Exten j Sive cultural program the City of Munich has lined up for the 1972 olympics. J i time t h e committee recognized total Community As an important Factor in staging a major event but j warned that in the Case of the j olympics it would be too much to expect that employers and i employees could give their time As freely As they did during the j pan american games. The report concluded that since it is essential in the i railway Industry that the level i of the work Force balances with the traffic being i the railway s Prairie Region i covers the area Between Hie Lakehead and the Saskatchewan i Alberta Border. The reduction of the work Force will hopefully be Horary ii in spokesman said. The situation is general across Canada the spokesman said but was unable to release figures ;