An army of giant UV lights has assembled on the field at B.C. Place and been given a critical task — nurture the grass below ahead of next month's FIFA World Cup.
The B.C. government unveiled the temporary grass playing surface and a host of other renovations at the 55,000-seat stadium on Tuesday, exactly one month and one day before Vancouver hosts its first match in soccer's biggest showcase.
“Just to see the field, to see all the preparations here underway, see everybody working so hard, it is hard to believe that we are so close to the world’s largest single sport sporting event and Vancouver’s part of it," said Premier David Eby. "We are going to be in the global spotlight for an extended period.”
Vancouver is among 16 cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico that will host this year's expanded tournament.
The World Cup kicks off in Mexico and Guadalajara on June 11 and will feature 48 nations taking part in 104 games, with the finale set for July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J.
Toronto is hosting six games, including Canada's first of the tournament, a matchup with Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 12.
Seven games will be staged at B.C. Place, starting on June 13 with a battle between Australia and Turkey. Canada will play its second and third group stage games there, too.
The province is expecting about 350,000 soccer fans to descend on Vancouver for the tournament, and another million to visit the province over the following five years, Eby said.
“All told, we’re expecting about a billion dollars in economic impact on B.C.’s economy coming from this world class sporting event," he said.
Last June, the B.C. government pegged the provincial cost of hosting at between $532 million and $624 million, including a $196-million upgrade of the 43-year-old stadium.
B.C. Place is owned and operated by PavCo, a provincial Crown corporation.
The province plans to reveal the total cost for hosting the World Cup before the games begin, Eby said.
“I understand the important need to have the final and full accounting of the cost of the event available to the public," he said. "Our intention was to release that with our partners closer to the date of the first game. But I have asked our team to bring that forward to ensure that we have the total out to the public by the end of the month."
Hosting also brings benefits that won't show up on a balance sheet, the premier added.
"(The cost) is a key piece of information for the public," he said. "But the legacies that will be created by this game, whether it's community sports fields or the improvements here to the stadium that create lines of revenue or the opportunity to develop and enhance relationships with business partners or tourists from around the world is significant and hard to understate.”
Seven games will be staged at B.C. Place, starting on June 13 with a battle between Australia and Turkey. Canada will play its second and third group stage games there, too.
The province is expecting about 350,000 soccer fans to descend on Vancouver for the tournament, and another million to visit the province over the following five years, Eby said.
“All told, we’re expecting about a billion dollars in economic impact on B.C.’s economy coming from this world class sporting event," he said.
Last June, the B.C. government pegged the provincial cost of hosting at between $532 million and $624 million, including a $196-million upgrade of the 43-year-old stadium.
B.C. Place is owned and operated by PavCo, a provincial Crown corporation.
The province plans to reveal the total cost for hosting the World Cup before the games begin, Eby said.
“I understand the important need to have the final and full accounting of the cost of the event available to the public," he said. "Our intention was to release that with our partners closer to the date of the first game. But I have asked our team to bring that forward to ensure that we have the total out to the public by the end of the month."
Hosting also brings benefits that won't show up on a balance sheet, the premier added.
"(The cost) is a key piece of information for the public," he said. "But the legacies that will be created by this game, whether it's community sports fields or the improvements here to the stadium that create lines of revenue or the opportunity to develop and enhance relationships with business partners or tourists from around the world is significant and hard to understate.”
