Vancouver unveils $650,000 worth of Olympic banners around city
 

VANCOUVER — The city is spending $650,000 on 6,000 Olympic banners on major streets, bridges and around 2010 venues.

The banners, which cost more than $100 each, went up on Cambie Street Wednesday.

"Half that cost is to produce the banner and about half to install it," said City of Vancouver spokeswoman Lesli Boldt.

"We hope to have them all installed by the end of the week."

The banners, made in Barrie, Ont., will be placed on Cambie and Granville streets from SW Marine Drive to downtown and on Hastings Street from Boundary Road to downtown. They'll also be on the city's False Creek Bridges and around venues.

Boldt said the city hopes to use the banners after the Games as a legacy.

"We converted the previous Olympic banners into bags for schoolkids and put school supplies in them and worked with the Downtown Eastside non-profit to make that happen," she said.

Boldt said the city is spending the money from Vancouver's $20-million Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Reserve Fund, "to create some excitement and make Vancouver look great for the Games."

The city also spent $25,000 putting a four-page newspaper supplement in the Vancouver Sun which Boldt described as "Host City 101."

She said the insert will also be available at community centres and libraries and is a basic guide for residents "on what it means to be a host city, how to get around and different things you can participate in."

The guide includes a Top 10 list of ways to be a good host, including things like offering help to visitors looking at maps and where to send people to get visitor information, police or medical help.

It also urges people to "share your love of the city" and "be patient on public transit," as well as "enjoy yourself."
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http://www.theprovince.com/Vancouver...873/story.html

what a waste of money.

i dont care how much they spent on Olympic anymore, complaints doesnt get me to anywhere. I'm paying the tax for sure and it is not going to changed.

I just hope we win the Gold medal in men's hockey.

This is seriously really nothing compared to the total cost of the olympics (see security).

so each banner costs $100+?
you'd think it'd be like 30-40...50 tops

they spend money on banners like these all the time. its just that these are specific to the olympics - but they have ones for different neighborhoods and whatnot...

Read the next line, half is to produce, half is to install.. it is CUPE we are talking about. You don't like it, why don't you take up with the union?

they are. The other half is labour to put them up
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i think i'll steal one and keep it as a souvenir haha

be patient on public transit? shit it's gonna suck.......

at least these look somewhat more visually appealing than the little alien mascots

Mukmuk is cute

http://vancouverisawesome.com/wp-con.../11/mukmuk.jpg

Why are they made in Ontario? Wouldn't it be cheaper to source locally?

i didn't say i didn't like em..they look visually appealing.

The ultimate mascots


http://www.mbarrick.net/livejournal/...k_pedobear.jpg

they didn't give the business to the asians in richmond that's why...

^ Looks like just about nobody can read either...

Make them in China for $15 each?

Why not purchase the banner locally.. at least give something back to our economy..

Can't wait for the Olympics to be over so the traffic can die down a little. Traffic makes me rage.

I want to learn how to pickpocket before the Olympic rush on the skytrains

Those are some pricey banners.

i assume that includes the fee of installing them?

If they were made in china they would be, and that would probably be all installation cost.

Only because you didn't read anything....at all.

wait wait
so 6000 banners x 100 each = 600 000
that only leaves 50k for installing... i smell some form of bullshit here