Vancouver has more wheelchair ramps now thanks to Paralympics

From The Vancouver Sun:

Organizers of Vancouver's Winter Games had to spend an extra $150,000 to make new ramps for the Paralympic opening ceremony at BC Place last week because ramps made for the Olympic Games were too steep for wheelchair athletes.

While the producers of the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies were able to use many of the same pieces of equipment for the shows -- including lighting, sound and rigging -- the Olympic production required larger raised staging areas at the east and west ends of the stadium.

As a result, the ramps in front of the massive airlock doors did not comply with the B.C. Building Code -- and would have been a barrier for the hundreds of athletes using wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs who were to enter during the Parade of Athletes for the Paralympic opening ceremony.

"In the Olympic Games, the complete stage area was needed for the opening and closing ceremonies, and the ramps were built at a different grade to allow for this," Patrick Roberge, producer of the Paralympic ceremonies, said in a statement.

"We knew we would have to change it. These shows are complex, large productions with many different moving pieces."

During David Atkins's two Olympic ceremonies, the only athlete with a disability who needed to use the ramps was Rick Hansen. Although he struggled up the west ramp when he brought in the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony, Hansen had faced tougher grades on his Man in Motion tour.

"The total cost to retrofit the ramps for the Paralympic ceremony was under $150,000, however we were able to find savings worth many times this amount through many other efficiencies in the venue: sound and lighting systems were re-purposed; rehearsal tents, dressing rooms and operational areas were all reused," said Roberge.

Vanoc budgeted $64.3 million in 2007 for ceremonies. Of that, $58.5 was for the Olympic ceremonies in BC Place. The Paralympic ceremonies cost $5.8 million, including the nightly medals ceremonies in Whistler.