Chicago Olympics

Welcome to the Chicago Olympics Blog

2007-02-22T12:51:00.000-06:00

The Chicago Olympics Blog has been created to serve as a forum to discuss the many issues surrounding whether Chicago should bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. This site compliments other sites that are promoting a Chicago Bid. The most notable of these other sites is the Chicago Metro Organizing CMTE blog that can be found at http://chicago2016.blogspot.com/ and a site maintained by Krist Werling at http://chicagoolympics.blogspot.com/.

This blog contains separate sections to discuss each of the major topics related to Chicago bidding for the 2016 Games. If you think a new topic should be added, place a comment in this section and we will add a new topic.

We welcome your input into this discussion.

London vs. Chicago Facility Comparison

2006-03-06T14:27:00.000-06:00

To help understand if Chicago could economically host the 2016 Games, I created a sheet to compare the facilities that London plans to use with those that Chicago could plan to use. That document is attached and of course, any comments are welcome.

London vs Chicago Comparison

The Olympic Village

2006-02-22T15:03:00.000-06:00

In 2012, London will house over 17,000 athletes, coaches and their support staff in an Olympic Village that will be built from scratch. The Olympic Village will be an integral part of an economic revitalization program for a depressed area near central London. It will cost an estimated $1 billion and will be built by a public/private partnership that will rent the Village to the IOC for the Games. It will occupy about 75 acres.

Important considerations for an Olympic Village include the distance from the Village to the sporting facilities, the use of the Village after the Games and the quality of the accommodations.

Where could Chicago build such a Village? How much would it cost and how would it be financed? What would the post-Games use of the Village be?

The Athletic Venues

2006-02-22T14:51:00.000-06:00

In London's successful bid for the 2012 Games, they plan to spend nearly $1 billion in new facilities and on upgrading existing facilities. Most of these facilities will have public uses after the Games.

To keep the cost of the Games reasonable, Chicago could make extensive use of its existing facilities such as Soldier Field (discussed in a separate posting on this blog) McCormick Place, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, Wrigley and US Cellular (assuming baseball gets reinstated by 2016) and others.

Where do you think Chicago could host the various events?

The Olympic Stadium Question

2006-02-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

One of the main questions that needs to be addressed regarding a Chicago bid for the Games is the apparent need to build a stadium to host the opening and closing ceremonies and the Athletics events (i.e. Track and Field).

Mayor Daley has floated the idea of building a stadium for this purpose that would also be used for a second NFL football team in Chicago. Such a stadim would cost between $400 million and $1 billion. In the press and elsewhere this idea has not been very favorably received.

Crain’s Chicago Business recently printed a story (it may have been an editorial submitted by a person not employed by Crain’s) that proposed building a stadium at the University of Chicago.

A respected sports faciltiy consultant submitted the idea and the Tribune ran an article that mentioned remodeling and renovating one of the horse racing tracks in the Chicago area to accommodate the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

The main reason for this discussion is because the conventional wisdom is that the main stadium needs to have seating for about 80,000. Other than questioning the conventional wisdom, what alternatives does Chicago have regarding an Olympic Stadium? Is there a lower cost alternative that would satisfy the IOC?

Pros and Cons of a Chicago Olympics

2006-02-22T11:06:00.000-06:00

There are many reasons why to have the Olympics in Chicago just as there are many reasons why not to have them here. In this post we discuss the pros and cons of a Chicago Olympics.