BC Place is showing it has a strong future by booking events beyond 2010, says the facility's new business development director.

"It's very important that, as the building moves forward, there is some certainty as we continue to book - for our clients and for the future of the building," says Graham Ramsay.

The provincially owned stadium's future has been the subject of considerable speculation in recent years because of its prime location alongside False Creek in downtown Vancouver. It's in an area that is undergoing extensive real estate redevelopment, with such projects as a new Costco store and four attached condo towers.

The year 2010 has long been viewed as a deadline on the stadium's future because the facility is committed to staging the Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies and nightly medal presentations.

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
BC Place business development director Graham Ramsay says the provincially owned stadium has a huge economic impact.

But Ramsay, a long-time BC Place executive who was recently promoted, denies that the advance bookings are part of a fight to keep the 23-year-old stadium alive.

Ramsay says BC Place is just continuing its practice of booking events on a five-year cycle.

"I see the building has a very strong future," says Ramsay. "Those (questions surrounding the property's future) are the political decisions that are made outside of this."

BC Place is operated by the BC Pavilion Corp. (PAVCO), a Crown corporation that also operates the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre and its expansion project now under construction, along with Burnaby-based Bridge Studios. Each facility has its own management group.

"For 2011, there are probably three or four of our major events that are already contracted - the auto show, boat show, the gift show and everything like that," says Ramsay.

Most BC Place events are repeat bookings held around the same time every year. The Grey Cup-champion B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League are the venue's lone major tenant.

In addition to sporting events such as Lions games and the B.C. high school football championships, minor soccer tournaments and motorcycle races, the stadium stages trade and consumer shows and special events such as November's Rolling Stones concert.

Ramsay says it's an important part of his job to spread the word that the stadium is ready to rent. And he isn't shy about touting the facility's importance to the province.

"Unlike smaller buildings, or unlike other entertainment venues, a stadium like this is the only place where you can hold what we call city- or province-defining events," he says. "So there is a mandate to have a building like this for the province, and we have a responsibility to make sure it's well managed and full."

BC Place is booked an average of 220 days per year. In 2005-06, it generated $12.71 million in rental revenue. But Ramsay says its economic impact on the community is much larger.

The Rolling Stones concert, for example, generated $7 million, including $2 million in taxes.

"On a given year, our building will generate in the neighbourhood of $25-$30 million for the province," calculated as expenditures by organizers and visitors at events, says Ramsay.

BC Place will undergo about $1.5 million in renovations for enhanced wheelchair access and is looking to install LED scoreboards. Improvements to concessions and other areas are also being planned.

"We're looking at things that make the guest experience better in the building, leading up to 2010," adds Ramsay. "Some of those things that haven't been done over the last 10 or 12 years are being done now."

Contrary to some previous reports, the Teflon roof does not need to be replaced, as a review conducted by its builder shows it is structurally sound, he says.

Lions general manager Bob Ackles says the bookings beyond 2010 erase doubts about the stadium's future.

"We can now look ahead and not be concerned about there not being a stadium here in the near future," says Ackles. "I think the stadium's going to be here for a while."

The Vancouver Whitecaps soccer club, which operates men's and women's professional teams, has proposed building a 15,000-seat waterfront stadium that could be expanded to 30,000.

Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium is now going through the planning-approval stages, but the Lions, who are just starting to become profitable after two decades of financial struggles, prefer a larger venue and have declined to get involved with the Caps so far.

"(Booking events at BC Place beyond 2010) allows you to plan ahead, and that's what we've been doing for the past five years," says Ackles. "It's a great stadium. When I came back to Vancouver (from a stint as a National Football League and XFL executive) five years ago, I heard so many people bad-mouth that stadium. They didn't like this or they didn't like that or whatever, but it is a very good stadium."

He says the dome did exactly what it's intended to do - protect people from the weather - during the Western final, which drew a crowd of 50,000 fans on a Sunday when rain poured most of the day.

Keeping the stadium is more important to local businesses than new real estate development, Ackles adds.

"I live right here in Yaletown, and in my opinion we do not need anymore high-rise (development) here or in the downtown area," says Ackles. "What we need are things that people can do.

"Like, go to a (Vancouver Canucks hockey game at General Motors Place, which is next to BC Place), go to a football game, go to restaurants. It's a wonderful place on a football night or a hockey night in the area. The restaurants are booming and there's a lot of people."

Ackles says the Lions, owned by Hamilton-area businessman David Braley, whose main business is auto-parts manufacturer Orlick Industries, are "definitely" interested in managing BC Place if the opportunity arises.

But Ramsay says it's best to keep the stadium under public control.

"Whenever you look at private-public partnerships, you have to be careful," he adds. "If a private management company came in, you'd still have to fund the building. This is really a public asset, similar to the library, similar to the museums.

"Our ability is to serve all aspects of the public. Whether it's someone coming to the Rolling Stones, someone buying a car, someone coming to the Run for the Cure or high school football, as a public facility, you can achieve that."

PAVCO will surrender management - temporarily at least - when the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) takes over the building at the end of the 2009 Lions season in preparation for the Winter Games in February 2010.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)