The Shougang Big Air ski jump, built on the site of a decommissioned steel mill, has been the most talked-about venue of the Winter Olympics. While there’s been praise, it has also been criticized as dystopian and dreary. Beijing hopes not to add white elephant to that list as well.
To keep the structure viable after the closing ceremony Sunday evening, China plans to use it to train the next generation of Winter Olympic athletes, many of whom might have been inspired by watching Team China stars Eileen Gu and Su Yiming win gold there. But that’s when the weather is cold.
In the summer, the city plans to turn it into a very large water slide. Alternatively, according to the organizing committee for the Beijing Olympics, it could also be covered with turf and used for grass sledding.
Whether these plans are innovative or far-fetched, they highlight a problem that has long dogged Olympic host cities: what to do with the bespoke venues once the games end. Watching multi-million-dollar facilities fall into disuse has fueled public opposition in many countries to bidding for the games.
“There are definitely challenges with any kind of reuse project,” said David Fannon, an associate professor of architecture at Northeastern University who has written about how to make structures more adaptable. “And then especially with what is probably a pretty unique one,” he said of the plans for the Shougang Big Air jump.
The International Olympic Committee has tried to address its critics. In 2018, the IOC adopted sweeping reforms to how it selects host cities, including loosening its requirements for venues. As a result, 80% of the proposed facilities for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games in Italy, the first determined by this process, will be either existing or temporary structures.
About 60% of the venues for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and Beijing 2022 were existing or temporary, according to the IOC.
The Chinese capital budgeted about $1.5 billion for Olympics facilities. The Financial Times reported Friday that actual spending was twice as much.
Responding to a Bloomberg News query prior to the FT report, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games said spending was in line with what was budgeted. The committee didn’t immediately respond to a later request for comment on the FT article.
Beijing re-purposed some of the venues from the 2008 Summer Games. The Bird’s Nest national stadium was new a decade ago; this year, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
The National Aquatics Center, a.k.a. the “Water Cube,” hosted swimming and diving events in 2008. Today it’s the “Ice Cube,” used for curling. The National Indoor Stadium, which had been home to gymnastics, trampoline and handball, hosted ice hockey.
Only some venues can be transformed in this way. “Many sports require highly specialized facilities,” said Heike C. Alberts, an associate professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh who has written about the impact the games have on cities.
While an ice rink could be opened to the public, she said, few people can safely use an Olympic ski jump or bob sled run. “A ski jump can sometimes double as a viewing platform, for example, but the number of different uses is limited,” she said.
But host cities have to try. Beijing published a 200-page report outlining what it believes will be the legacy of the Winter Games, including how the various venues will be used after the Olympics. The prospects for some look more challenging than for others.
One of the new Olympics venues was the National Sliding Center, which was used for the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events. After the Games, it will continue to be used by the Chinese national team for training and as the site of future competitions. Beyond that, development will focus on the area around the structure, where facilities for rock climbing, mountain biking, zip lining and other activities will be set up.
The National Ski Jumping Center, an hour’s train ride outside Beijing, will also be used in the off-season. The venue is adding a restaurant and conference facilities so that it can be used to host events such as e-sports, chess and card competitions, according to the Beijing organizing committee.
Other sites will be more tied to winter sports. The Genting Snow Park has been a commercial ski resort since 2012. Ahead of the games, the resort spruced up the trails, built four T-bars and upgraded its water system.
After basking in the glow of the Olympics, the resort is expected to become the largest snowboard park in Asia. About 2 million people now go skiing annually in Zhangjiakou, where the Genting resort is located, according to Liu Xinghua, head of BOCOG’s legacy and general planning department. That’s up tenfold from 2015 and on par with annual visitors to Japan’s Hokkaido.
“When you build new venues, the main purpose is not only for the games, but also for long term reuse,” Liu said. Avoiding white-elephant projects is “a really big challenge for each host city,” he added.
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