Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

20. Press Village
20.1
Basic Preparations
20.1.1
Guidelines for Operation
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The operation of the Press Village was
planned according to the principles
that the village facilities should be
new; that one room should be allotted
to each journalist; that the boarding
fees should be inexpensive; and that
all requirements such as the installation
of phones for individuals should
be fulfilled.
Four goals were set for the operation
of the village: maintaining the village
as a clean and safe boarding place;
supplying good-quality food; providing
appropriate services; and maintaining
efficient management.
To achieve these four goals, guidelines
were set as follows: First, the village
had to offer the journalists services
comparable to those of hotels. Second,
the accommodation fees were
collected in advance and the surplus,
if any, returned at the time of checkout.
Third, the village was divided into
38 lodging and boarding districts
which were operated separately.
Fourth, the restaurants were operated
by commissioned businesses. Fifth,
for the convenience and entertainment
of the villagers, professional businesses
would be invited to operate the
facilities in the village. Sixth, as for
daily necessities, materials on free
lease and those provided by the Olympic
marketing program were utilized to
the fullest.
The SLOOC broke ground for the construction
of the apartment buildings in
Ogum-dong and Tunchon-dong in
Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, on
December 1,1986. The construction
work was completed on May 31, 1988.
The apartments, designed to accommodate
6,000 media personnel, were
sold in advance of the Games on the
condition that the buyers move in after
the Olympic Games.
The applications for accommodation
in the village were accepted from
March, 1988 and Hotel Shilla and Lotte
Hotel were designated as the food
suppliers. In May, the menus were set
following a food tasting. The SLOOC
took over the apartments from the
Seoul city administration on July 1 and
began to furnish them. Operators of
the convenience and entertainment
facilities were designated from June
1987, and by August 1988, such facilities
were all ready. The operation
personnel underwent several rounds of
education. The Press Village was
opened on September 2.
The Press Village Division I handled
matters relating to the manpower
procurement and management of the
village facilities. The Press Village
Division II was responsible for the
operation of the boarding facilities, the
paperwork for entry into the village
and exit from it, and publicity on the
village. The major concern of the Press
Village Division III was the supply of
food, installation and operation of the
convenience facilities and information
and guidance centers.
An accounting officer was additionally
appointed at the Press Village Department
and handled reservations of the
journalists coming into the village.
The Press Village Operation Unit was
activated on July 1, 1988, under the
Commissioner of Accommodation
Support. The operation unit had four
directors under the director general.
The directors were responsible respectively
for management, conveniences,
entry and exit, and boarding facilities.
Under the four directors were 18
managers and 43 officers.
It was initially estimated at the end of
1986 that 3,099 personnel would be
required for the operation of the Press
Village, but the figure was finally fixed
at 2,354 in August 1988 after several
rounds of calculations.
The projected manpower comprised
41 SLOOC staff members, 547 volunteers,
1,228 support personnel, 538
temporary personnel and 1,224 service
employees.
Among the support personnel were 67
government officials who served in key
administration posts. For the operation
of the lodging facilities and the
materials management, 1,069 military
personnel were mobilized. Five
hundred and twenty-one YWCA members
served on a temporary basis
cleaning the apartment rooms and
keeping the boarding environment
tidy.
From March 1988, training of personnel
in different categories of work was
undertaken at different places. From
June, the training was conducted on
the spot.
The personnel were posted at different
places on a step-by-step basis; 202
personnel were placed by June 16,
and by August 24,1,654 personnel had
been assigned to different posts. By
September 2, 2,354 personnel were in
place along with 1,224 service
employees.
20.2
Facilities Acquisition and
Management
20.1.2
20.2.1
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Formation of the Operation Unit
Construction of the Village
In July 1986, a Press Village officer —————————————–
was newly appointed in the Olympic
In 1983, the Office of Prime Minister
Village Department to handle matters
for Administrative Coordination
relating to the Press Village. In Janu-
decided to build the Olympic Village
ary 1987, the Press Village Department
and the Press Village in the form of
was inaugurated with three divisions.
apartments to be sold before the
Games and to be handed over to the
buyers after the Games. Ogum-dong
and Tunchon-dong areas which are
close to the Olympic Stadium were
selected as the best sites for the
villages. The Seoul city administration
was entrusted to supervise the construction
of the Press Village on a land
space of 626,664 square meters.
In March 1984, the SLOOC sent a plan
for the Press Village to the Seoul city
administration, which it had worked
out based on the Press Village-related
materials produced in the previous
Olympics. The Seoul city administration
held an international contest for
the designs of the Olympic Village and
the Press Village.
Among the 39 designs submitted for
the contest, a joint work by Hwang
ll-in, representative of the Il-Kun
Architecture and Engineers Group,
and Woo Kyu-sung, representative of
the Woo & Williams Architecture
Group, was selected as the most outstanding
in June 1985. The design
envisioned that the Press Village
would have 1,848 units in 36 buildings
and would be able to house an estimated
6,000 journalists and two business
facilities. The village was
designed to cover a combined floor
space of 251,688 square meters.
The Seoul city administration started
the construction of the Press Village
on December 1,1986, and completed
it on May 31,1988.
The SLOOC took over the facilities
from the city administration on July 1,
1988, furnished them by August 31,
and put them into operation from
September 2 to October 5.
20.2.2
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Facilities and Furnishings
The 1,848 apartment units the SLOOC
took over from the Seoul city administration
were classified into four different
types of different sizes: 34 pyong
(one pyong equals 3.3 square meters),
40 pyong, 47 pyong and 51 pyong.
Each unit had three or four bedrooms
and one or two bathrooms.
The Press Hall, built as a commercial
center for the future apartment
dwellers, was a two-story building
covering 1,676 square meters. It also
included the Sub Press and Broadcasting
Center (SPBC). In the 595square
meter basement, the Press
Grill and a snack bar were operated.
On the 450-square-meter first floor
were such facilities as a post office,
bank and an information and guidance
center. The 631-square-meter second
floor had the SPBC and the Telecommunications
Office.
Eight small buildings were temporarily
set up in the precincts of the village for
the operation of the Games. In all, they
covered 4,231 square meters of floor
space. The 3,494-square-meter Press
Cafeteria was operated near the main
gate close to the SPBC. Other facilities
included the 152-square-meter office
checking the entries and exits, a
33-square-meter visitor's information
room, a 228-square-meter inspection
room, a 99-square-meter office
managing the parking lot, and the
outdoor toilets covering a combined
floor space of 225 square meters.
The 17,590-square-meter basement
space of the 12 apartment buildings
housed the 2,046-square-meter
accreditation center, the 2,201-squaremeter
operation headquarters, conveniences
and entertainment facilities,
restaurants for the operation personnel,
the situation room and the storage
room. The basement was fully utilized
having 12 support facilities and 60-odd
rooms.
In the southern part of the Press Village
was a parking lot covering 6,149
square meters. In the southwestern
section of the village was a 9,917square-meter
parking lot for the rent-acar
vehicles.