The Olympic Village is officially closed to the public as of today.
The Union organized several last-chance tours for students and employees Thursday, distributing about 500 tickets for the tours out of the 2,000 it had.
The Olympic Village is a maze of fences and color-coded banners. Each banner represents a different residential “zone.” The only “zone” that will be open to media will be the International Zone. Media will not be allowed into the athletes’ residential zones.
The village will be run much like a hotel. Each zone has numerous front desks that will act as concierge, as well as a liaison between the 24-hour maintenance crew. There are two large dining halls, computer stations, medical clinics and nutrition centers.
“We have ordered 30,000 rolls of toilet paper and two tractor trailers full of trash bags,” Mahon said. The village is preparing for 3,500 athletes and numerous coaches, family and staff.
The Olympic Village is still a work in progress. There are many construction workers putting the final touches on barricades and tents. Dan Adams, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, said, “the village will be completed next week.”
“There is no finer housing in the country, and when all is said and done, the U will benefit, we will all benefit,” Adams said.
There are many temporary buildings, including 144 trailers, that will provide office space and storage for designated countries. These buildings will be removed after the Paralympics in March.
The village is undergoing many changes. Supervisor of Housekeeping Lisa Mahon said, “I’ve been here since Sunday and it already looks different.”
The overall feeling of the tour was positive. “It’s exciting and a good thing for the university,” said student Brandy Broom. “It’s good they are utilizing buildings that are already here and have historical significance.”
“I think they’ve done a good job. I think it will facilitate good things for the university,” said graduate student Kit Giddins.
Secrecy within the village is important to comply with security standards. The housing assignments for each country and athlete are not to be released; most of the village staff do not even have this information. Adams doesn’t know where any team is staying.
The Olympic Village is going into “lock down” starting next week, when the Secret Service arrives. There will be no more public tours of the village. There will be one media tour scheduled for next week, accessible to accredited press only.