B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was in Vancouver Thursday to plant the final seeds on what is likely to most expensive rooftop garden in the city.
It's the one that sits on top of the Vancouver Convention Centre, another Olympic-related project that is way over budget.
Slated to be used as a media centre during the 2010 Olympic Games, the Convention Centre was expected to cost $400 million when the premier attended the ground-breaking ceremony four years ago.
At that time he insisted that the project would be built on time and on budget. "It's going to be,'' he said.
But since Campbell made that forecast, the budget has more then doubled from the original estimate and now stands at $883 million.
"No one's happy with the cost challenges that we faced, but we've identified those, we've met those, and we're coming in within that budget," he said.
Now that it's almost built, questions are now being asked about whether the facility can attract enough convention business to turn a profit.
Despite the global economic uncertainty, Convention Centre officials are convinced this facility will continue to draw convention visitors from around the world.
"In tough economic times, it causes people to get together, so associations want to meet, they want to do research and development and they want to do education during a tough economic time," said Warren Buckley of the Convention Centre.
He says 159 events have already been confirmed for the new Convention Centre. Of that amount, 54 would not have been booked in the existing facility. "There are predictions, knock on wood, that 2011 will be the best convention year the city has ever had,'' Buckley said.
For his part, Campbell is also bullish on the outlook for the new facility.
"This Convention Centre will pay for itself in a very short order, and it will be a strong economic engine," he said.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen.
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