Following on our earlier posts ( Olympic Tool Shed and Vancouver 2010 Special ) on the Olympic Canada pavilion located at W. Georgia and Cambie Streets, the word on the street is that it will be opened a day or two after the opening day of the games.

The Canada pavilion had been slighted with comments from Designers as being “boring” and “dawdy”.

On Wednesday’s CBC’s The Early Edition with host Rick Cluff, Vancouver’s own world famous Architect Bing Thom and Royal Architectural Institute’s Wayne DeAngelis were interviewed on their thoughts on the opportunity lost with the 2010 Olympic Canada pavilion.

Canada Pavilion

Four Host Nations Pavilion

In response to Rick Cluff’s observation of the the 2010 Four Host Nation’s beautifully crafted wood building of $3.5 million, to the tent-like $10 million Canada Pavilion, Mr Thom observed:

“… it says to us, one part of it is a throw away society and the other one, a society that thinks longer term… “

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Here is the full interview, courtesy of CBC radio:

A bit more background on the Canada pavilion from the CTV Olympics website:

VANCOUVER – Ottawa is defending its decision to award an American-based company the contract to build the Canada pavilion for the 2010 Olympics.

Gary Lunn, the minister of state for sport, said Illinois-based Exhibitgroup/Giltspur won the contract through a public tendering process, and that its Canadian division will do much of the work.

“This company won the contract fair and square,” Lunn said in an interview.

Giltspur, which is based in a Chicago suburb, has offices across North America and Europe.

It has more than 60 staff in Canada and an employee at the firm who didn’t want to be named said the bid came out of its Toronto office.

The $9.29 million bid was awarded on Nov. 17 and announced Nov. 23, according to a government website.

Lunn said the request for proposal went out on Oct. 14.

But Joyce Murray, Liberal critic for the Vancouver Olympics, said she was told bidders only had two weeks to put together their proposals for the pavilion.

She said some people in the industry complained the time period was too short and didn’t bother bidding, feeling the government already had a contractor in mind.

“That is a complete mismanagement of the federal government’s responsibility to put a great Canada pavilion together,” Murray said in an interview.

She also questioned whether an American-led firm is the best choice.

“When it comes to interpreting Canada’s unique cultures, heritage and values to the world, does (Lunn) really believe that an American firm is the best choice for the job?” Murray told the House of Commons Monday.

She criticized whether there was enough time to build the pavilion properly before the Games begin in February.

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