Olympic Village Station

Olympic Village SkyTrain Station
Station statistics
Address	525 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver
Coordinates	49°15′59″N 123°6′57″W / 49.26639°N 123.11583°W / 49.26639; -123.11583Coordinates: 49°15′59″N 123°6′57″W / 49.26639°N 123.11583°W / 49.26639; -123.11583
Structure	Underground
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	August 17, 2009
Accessible
Code	OV
Owned by	TransLink
Fare zone	1
Traffic
Passengers ([1]) (2009 boardings)	303,010
Services
Preceding station   TransLink   Following station Broadway – City Hall toward YVR–Airport Canada Line Airport Yaletown–Roundhouse toward Waterfront Broadway – City Hall toward Richmond–Brighouse Canada Line Richmond

Olympic Village Station is a SkyTrain station on the Canada Line in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The use of the term "Olympic" has been licensed for use by the International Olympic Committee.^{[citation needed]}

Location

Construction photo taken in April 2008

The station is located underground at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 2nd Avenue, adjacent to the Cambie Street Bridge. It serves the existing South False Creek residential and commercial area, as well as the Olympic Athletes' Village for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Services

The station is within walking distance of Leg-In-Boot Station on the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway (a tram service which ran for several years until 2009, on weekends, connecting Science World and the Main Street – Science World SkyTrain station to Granville Island). If the City converts the Downtown Historic Railway to a full streetcar line, there would be a stop at Olympic Village Station.^[2]

In addition to the Historic Railway, the station is within a short walk of the False Creek Ferries and Aquabus Ferry stop at Spy Glass. Both companies provide service to Granville Island, David Lam Park, Yaletown, Plaza of Nations and Science World, while False Creek Ferries provides service to Kitsilano and the West End.

The #84 bus provides express service from this station to UBC and VCC–Clark Station.

History

During the planning and approval process for the Canada Line, this station was originally intended for completion for 2009. When the cost of the project had to be scaled back by TransLink (circa 2005), the station was deferred until after the opening of the line in 2009. However, the City of Vancouver owns the station site and decided to fund the station's construction to spur redevelopment of its lands and the neighbouring Southeast False Creek neighbourhood, and it was restored to the initial phase. Olympic Village is the third name for this station; it was initially proposed as 2nd Avenue, and more recently as False Creek South.

Public art

Outside the station is a sculpture by Marie Khouri, "Le Banc" or "The Bench", intended to double as a bench for people to sit in. Soon after the Canada Line opened, the sculpture was disfigured by skateboarders who used it as a ramp. The work was repaired by Khouri at her own expense.^[3]

• 

  Le Banc sculpture scarred by skateboards, August 2010

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  Admonishment regarding the public art
  "NO SKATEBOARDING / BIKING"

References

1. ^ Boardings abstracted from "Fare Evasion on SkyTrain and Canada Line". Vancouver Sun. 2010-11-07. Workbook data used with Tableau Public. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/transit-system-crime/fare-evasion.html. Retrieved 2011-11-15. 
2. ^ "Downtown Streetcar Project". City of Vancouver Engineering Services. 2010-08-18. http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/streetcar/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
3. ^ "Sculpture gouged by skateboarders". CBC News. 2009-09-22. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/09/22/bc-canada-line-bench.html. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 

External links

Media related to Olympic Village Station at Wikimedia Commons