| Olympiques Calgary Olympics '88 | |
| Size: | 250px |
| Type: | Company limited by guarantee |
| Nickname: | OCO'88 |
| Former Name: | Calgary Olympic Development Association |
| Headquarters: | Calgary |
| Leader Title: | Chairman |
| Leader Name: | Frank King |
| Leader Title2: | President |
The Olympiques Calgary Olympics '88 (OCO'88), originally incorporated as XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee was the organization responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) was formed as an organizational group to support Calgary's bids for the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Winter Games. CODA was laid dormant in 1966, after losing three consecutive bids in a row. However, CODA was later revived in 1978, when Frank King and Bob Niven of Calgary's Booster Club took over the organization's leadership. King and Niven brought some members from previous bids back including former Olympic Sprinter and CODA founder Ernie McCullough, and politician Arthur Ryan Smith to consult on the project.
In October 1979, CODA was able to secure the Canadian Olympic Association (COA) support as Canada's official bid for the 1988 Winter Olympics over a competing bid by Vancouver by a vote of 27–9. Calgary's bid was bold, as CODA proposed constructing all new venues to overcome the city's lack of winter sport facilities with the argument that Canada's inventory of training facilities would grow significantly if Calgary was awarded the Games. The defeated Vancouver organizing group lamented that they lost to Calgary's "Big-ticket Games" idea, which was estimated to cost nearly three times what the Vancouver group was expected to pay to host the Winter Olympics. Vancouver's bid was based on already developed infrastructure, including the Pacific Coliseum and Whistler Blackcomb. Next, CODA spent two years building local support for the megaproject, selling memberships to approximately 80,000 of Calgary's 600,000 residents. Calgary had further secured million in funding from the federal (million) and Alberta's governments while some civic leaders, including then mayor Ralph Klein, crisscrossed the world to favor IOC delegates. Driven by the arrival of the National Hockey League's (NHL) newly renamed Calgary Flames from Atlanta in 1980, the city had already begun constructing a new NHL arena that would be later named the Olympic Saddledome. That course of action demonstrated to the IOC about Calgary's determination in wanting to host the Winter Olympics.
Calgary was one of three cities and towns that bid officially for the 1988 Winter Olympics. The other two were Falun, Sweden, and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The Italian town (comune) had before hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics. The vote was held on September 30, 1981, in Baden-Baden, West Germany, during the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress. After Cortina d'Ampezzo was eliminated in the first round of balloting, Calgary won in the second and final round of balloting over Falun, by a margin of 17 votes.
The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) Board of Directors had originally 25 members chaired by Frank King. Other members of the board of directors included Dick Pound, Mayor of Calgary Ralph Klein, former Mayor Ross Alger, James Worrall, Blake Ashforth, Brig. General James Cotter, Ed Davis, Scobey Hartley, Bob Hindmarch, Roger Jackson, Joe Kryczka, David Leighton, Gerald Maier, Douglas Mitchell, Ken Moore, Robert Niven, William Nield, Ed O'Connor, Arthur Ryan Smith, Peter Valentine, William J. Warren, Jack Wilson, Harold Wright, and Ed Zemrau. The executive committee was composed of 13 members of the board of directors, whose president was Robert Niven.
Following Calgary's selection as the host city for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games an official organizing committee was formed in January 1982, and incorporated in April 1982 under the name XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee. Later the organization was officially incorporated as Olympiques Calgary Olympics '88 recognizing Canada's bilingual recognition of French and English as the nation's official languages. The name Calgary Olympic Organizing Committee had the acronym of COOC which the committee wanted to avoid. The organization used the acronym OCO'88. OCO'88's symbol continued the stylized snowflake composed of four small "c"'s representing Calgary surrounding one large "C" representing Canada. The symbol was originally designed and used by CODA to support the Olympic bid.
OCO'88 was formed by utilizing many of the original board of directors members from CODA, originally starting with 11 members who each were given a specific area of responsibility. The board of directors continued to grow, first when Mayor Ralph Klein felt representation from the City of Calgary was insufficient and requested a second member. The board grew to 25 members by October 1983. The organization further expanded to 29 members by 1985, when former Alberta premier, Peter Lougheed, was added to the list.
In March 1982, the first president of OCO'88 was identified after a long search which included 129 candidates. David Leighton, an author, businessman and president of The Banff Centre was chosen for the role, and began part time in May 1982 and transitioned to full-time in September 1982. On December 30, 1982 the board of directors voted unanimously to terminate Leighton's contract, and an agreement was made for Leighton remained in the role of president until his resignation on January 18, 1983, five months after becoming full-time. The board and Leighton agreed to state the reason for his resignation was a "difference in management philosophy", while board chairman Frank King noted there were concerns with budget development, site locations, and dissatisfaction with the other members of the board. In May 1983, Bill Pratt was selected as the new president and Chief Operating Officer from approximately 200 candidates. Pratt was viewed as a "hands on" manager who worked as the project manager for the Calgary Saddledome construction, General Manager of the Calgary Stampede, and was involved in the construction of numerous buildings around Calgary. Pratt's hand's on management style was not universally appreciated, and Mayor Ralph Klein and long-time city Alderman Donald Adam Hartman argued against OCO'88 hiring Pratt.
The City of Calgary and the Canadian Olympic Association (COA) delegated officially all Olympic responsibilities, including staging the Winter Olympics under the Olympic Charter, to the renamed OCO'88 in February and September 1983 respectively.
Olympic biographer, Kevin Wamsley, noted that the CEO Frank King, the President Bill Pratt, Ralph Klein, and a former COA President Roger Jackson had collectively the most influence on all aspects of these Winter Olympics. This organizing committee took a hierarchical form for planning these Olympics, which caused consternation from some staff, volunteers, and people in executive roles. The original staff, who were at odds with the current management structure, were either fired or have willingly resigned. Also, there were claims that some of the volunteers were verbally abused. As a result, David Leighton resigned as OOC President in 1982, after only five months on the job. Therefore, Bill Pratt, a former general manager of the Calgary Stampede, became the new OOC President shortly afterwards.
However, conflicts within OCO'88 grew in the public eye and a review of the entire management structure was conducted, after Ralph Klein threatened it with a public inquiry in 1986. Frank King remained as CEO, but with the addition of more full time staff. Also, a number of volunteer committees were created to organize some 9,000 volunteers for the Winter Olympics. Despite these changes, there was still some animosity within OCO'88. Kevin Walmsley noted that Bill Pratt and Frank King continued to have a tense relationship with each other.[1] Some members of the news media commented that the changes made further alienated the general public, with a CTV producer, Ralph Mellanby, describing it as "an oilman’s and cattleman’s Calgary thing."[1] Long-time Canadian IOC member Dick Pound, acting in his official capacity went on the record with Maclean's noting the IOC grew increasingly frustrated with OCO'88, in which that it saw the actions of OCO'88 as a refusal to collaborate with them.[1]
| Name | Board Status | Organization | Other Responsibilities | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Lougheed | Honorary Chairman, Exec. Committee | |||
| Frank King | Chairman, Exec. Committee | |||
| Robert D. Niven | Vice Chairman, Exec Committee | |||
| Maurice Allan | Exec Committee | Canadian Olympic Association | ||
| Gerald Berger | Exec Committee | Government of Canada | ||
| Robert J. Holmes | Exec Committee | City of Calgary | ||
| Roger Jackson | Exec Committee | Canadian Olympic Association | ||
| Ralph Klein | Exec Committee | Mayor of Calgary | ||
| John M.S. Lecky | Exec Committee | |||
| Richard Pound | Exec Committee | International Olympic Committee | ||
| George de Rappard | Exec Committee | Government of Alberta | ||
| William J. Warren | Exec Committee | |||
| James Worrall | Exec Committee | International Olympic Committee | ||
| Paula Andrews | Mayor of Canmore | |||
| Robert G. Brawn | ||||
| Wendy Bryden | ||||
| George Cornish | Chief Commissioner, City of Calgary | |||
| J. Ian Douglas | ||||
| Jane Edwards | ||||
| Diane Hunter | Alderman, Calgary | |||
| Robert A. Kasting | ||||
| Robert Laidlaw | ||||
| Lyle Makosky | Government of Canada | |||
| Barry Mitchelson | Government of Alberta | |||
| Lee Richardson | Government of Canada | |||
| Terry Roberts | Government of Alberta | |||
| Walter Sieber | ||||
| Donald H. Sprague | ||||
| Norman Wagner |