One of the nation's premier architecture critics is clearly "on board" with Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics. Blair Kamin, the Chicago Tribune's architecture critic wrote a fantastic article (login required) about all of the fantastic structures and improvements that a Chicago Olympics would bring. In his recent article Kamin writes:
"With Mayor Richard Daley and civic leaders gearing up to make a bid for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, the possibilities for making dreams on the city's priority list come true are dazzling."
"Forget, for a moment, Daley's unlikely trial balloon of building a domed mega-stadium that eventually would host a second Chicago NFL team. Think of the other big-ticket public works the Games could spur: New subsidized housing, to be built as an Olympic village. A proposed West Loop Transportation Center linking buses, CTA and Metra trains and high-speed intercity rail, which would move spectators around. Perhaps, if U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and south suburban leaders can twist Daley's arm, a third airport that would provide a new gateway for visitors."
Kamin clearly thinks that Chicago can succeed at pulling together the political, business and community support to get these improvements approved and funded in order to make a successful bid. I'm glad to see Kamin on board early - he has been an influential critic of Chicago public works and architecture. His influence on Chicago's readers and leaders will be an important component of driving support for the Olympic bid.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
The Stadium Issue
The Chicago Tribune broke the news on Friday that Mayor Daley is trying to tackle the stadium issue up front. Daley knows that New York's failure to secure a stadium deal up front was an enormous negative for New York's bid for the 2012 games. According to this article (log in may be required) in the Trib, Daley has made some preliminary inquiries into luring a second NFL team to Chicago in hopes of getting an anchor tenant for an Olympic-scale stadium. Such a stadium would need to seat 80,000 spectators and serve multiple functions.
I'm not sure that Daley will be able to lure a second NFL team to Chicago (L.A. is clearly the NFL's priority), but it is clear that a stadium is needed. From a utility standpoint, the remodeled Soldier Field is a disaster. It is really only used less than 20 times a year for Bears games and a few concerts. A stadium with a retractable roof or a dome could not only be used for football games, but could have also allowed Chicago to host a wide variety of other events such as the Final Four and large meetings and year-round indoor concerts.
However I'm glad that Daley realizes that this is Chicago's weakness and he is out in front trying to find creative ways to solve it. A second NFL team (although I think it would be great) is probably a long shot but there must be some solution that will enable Chicago to plug this gaping hole in a potential bid for the 2016 Games.
I'm not sure that Daley will be able to lure a second NFL team to Chicago (L.A. is clearly the NFL's priority), but it is clear that a stadium is needed. From a utility standpoint, the remodeled Soldier Field is a disaster. It is really only used less than 20 times a year for Bears games and a few concerts. A stadium with a retractable roof or a dome could not only be used for football games, but could have also allowed Chicago to host a wide variety of other events such as the Final Four and large meetings and year-round indoor concerts.
However I'm glad that Daley realizes that this is Chicago's weakness and he is out in front trying to find creative ways to solve it. A second NFL team (although I think it would be great) is probably a long shot but there must be some solution that will enable Chicago to plug this gaping hole in a potential bid for the 2016 Games.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
No Name Problem Here!
I saw this interesting article in the Wall Street Journal - unfortunately I think you need a paid subscription to access the full text. The gist of the article is that the city of Torino, Italy, host of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games has decided that the 2006 Olympics will officially be known as the Torino Olympics and not the Turin Olympics. (Torino is pronounced like Cappucino, according to the WSJ article) Apparently it is longstanding tradition that the English version of a city's name is used as the official name for the Olympic games held in such city. Thus, we have the Rome Olympics and not the Roma Olympics and the Munich games and not the Munchen games. But Torino is putting its foot down and ending that tradition by using Torino instead of Turin as the official name for its upcoming games.
I'm all for Torino using whatever name they want to call themselves, but I just wanted to point out that this isn't a problem with Chicago! We are internationally known as Chicago! If the games are held here, then around the world they will be known as the Chicago Olympics. Bring on the 2016 games!
I'm all for Torino using whatever name they want to call themselves, but I just wanted to point out that this isn't a problem with Chicago! We are internationally known as Chicago! If the games are held here, then around the world they will be known as the Chicago Olympics. Bring on the 2016 games!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
HeatherJamie
One of my goals is to link to other supporters of a Chicago Olympics - Jamie Cleghorn is one just supporter. Visit his site at www.heatherjamie.com where you can read more about him and fiancee Heather. I'm sure that he will soon be devoting an entire section of the site to the future Chicago Olympic games.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Top 10 Reasons to Pick Chicago
Today I am starting a David Letterman style top ten list - but instead of providing comedy, I hope to inform with the Top 10 Reasons to Pick Chicago for the 2016 Summer Games. In true Letterman style, today we start with Reason Number 10:
Reason Number 10: O'Hare Airport and Chicago’s Location – Chicago’s location provides something that very few other U.S. cities have – it is central. Chicago is in the middle of the nation and is easy for people on the East Coast and West Coast, North and South to get to. This is evidenced by the fact that O’Hare International Airport is consistently the busiest airport in the world. Not only does O’Hare provide a gateway for international travel but it is the best airports in the country for U.S. travel. From O’Hare it is approximately 2 hours to the East coast, 2 hours to most of the South and Southwest and 4 hours or less to most of the West coast. And we don't just have O'Hare in Chicago - we also have the smaller, but typically lower cost, Midway International Airport.
Beyond O’Hare and Midway, the City of Chicago is within reach of much of the country by car! Most of the Midwest and much of the South can easily reach Chicago with less than a day’s car ride. The combination of O’hare airport and Chicago’s proximity to most of the U.S. makes Chicago the best place in the U.S. to hold what will be the most accessible North American games to date. The Olympics is about amateur sport. That is, sport that is supported by the people. It is only appropriate that it be accessible to as many people as possible. That is reason number 10 that the U.S. Olympic Committee should select Chicago as the bid city for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Reason Number 10: O'Hare Airport and Chicago’s Location – Chicago’s location provides something that very few other U.S. cities have – it is central. Chicago is in the middle of the nation and is easy for people on the East Coast and West Coast, North and South to get to. This is evidenced by the fact that O’Hare International Airport is consistently the busiest airport in the world. Not only does O’Hare provide a gateway for international travel but it is the best airports in the country for U.S. travel. From O’Hare it is approximately 2 hours to the East coast, 2 hours to most of the South and Southwest and 4 hours or less to most of the West coast. And we don't just have O'Hare in Chicago - we also have the smaller, but typically lower cost, Midway International Airport.
Beyond O’Hare and Midway, the City of Chicago is within reach of much of the country by car! Most of the Midwest and much of the South can easily reach Chicago with less than a day’s car ride. The combination of O’hare airport and Chicago’s proximity to most of the U.S. makes Chicago the best place in the U.S. to hold what will be the most accessible North American games to date. The Olympics is about amateur sport. That is, sport that is supported by the people. It is only appropriate that it be accessible to as many people as possible. That is reason number 10 that the U.S. Olympic Committee should select Chicago as the bid city for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Torino 2006
As of today we are just 60 days exactly from the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. The Torino Winter Olympics follow the previous Winter Olympics in 2002 held in Salt Lake City. After Salt Lake, Torino has a big reputation to live up to. The Salt Lake Olympics (although initially “tainted” due to bid rigging allegations – which I will address in future posts), turned out to be a spectacular event, in large part because of the dedication and devotion of the citizens of Salt Lake City.
The citizens of Torino and Northern Italy are certainly starting to really crank it into gear at this date with the Olympics less than two months away. I believe that this will be another exciting games. The Americans are predicted to win a very competitive number of medals (they won 34 total medals in Salt Lake – smashing the previous winter record of 13). High drama is anticipated as usual on the ski slopes, ice rinks and bobsled runs. But the success of an Olympics will come down to the host city – not just the athletes that compete. Although the Olympics are about the athletes and the competition – it is the host city’s responsibility to welcome the world and host the competition. I’m sure that the citizens of Torino (or Turin, as we Yanks call it) are up to the challenge and I look forward to watching the competitions in February.
The citizens of Torino and Northern Italy are certainly starting to really crank it into gear at this date with the Olympics less than two months away. I believe that this will be another exciting games. The Americans are predicted to win a very competitive number of medals (they won 34 total medals in Salt Lake – smashing the previous winter record of 13). High drama is anticipated as usual on the ski slopes, ice rinks and bobsled runs. But the success of an Olympics will come down to the host city – not just the athletes that compete. Although the Olympics are about the athletes and the competition – it is the host city’s responsibility to welcome the world and host the competition. I’m sure that the citizens of Torino (or Turin, as we Yanks call it) are up to the challenge and I look forward to watching the competitions in February.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Daley's Legacy
I understand that the best way to get something done in Chicago is to get Mayor Richard M. Daley’s support. Just think about the various projects and activities that most people didn’t think was possible: Millennium Park, singlehandedly closing Meigs Field, Lower Wacker reconstruction, cleaning up the city, expanding O’hare Airport (multiple times) and holding his office from 1989 until present day. Let’s face it – if we want to get the 2016 Olympics in Chicago we need the support of Chicago’s number 1 leader – Mayor Richard M. Daley.
I believe that luring the Olympics to Chicago would elevate Mayor Daley from the ranks of great mayors into the ranks of legendary mayors.
So far, Mayor Daley has shown some level of interest in bringing the Olympics to Chicago. This past summer he announced that Chicago will make a bid to host the 2016 Olympics. It is anticipated that the IOC will start to collect bids in 2007 so there is time for Chicago to get its act together. But what do we really need to show in order to get Mayor Daley’s full support for the 2016 Chicago Olympics? In short, Mayor D will need to be able to demonstrate to his electorate, to the Chicago City Council and to the State of Illinois that the Olympics will provide more benefits than negatives for Chicago. I am not going to fully outline these arguments right now in this post, but it is clear to me that the benefits will far outweigh the negatives. The benefits will include improved public transportation and mass transit, new facilities, increased tourism and exposure to the world, and tax, TV and tourism revenue. The negatives will include the costs of building out facilities and infrastructure, the disruption of construction and the crowds that will descend on Chicago during the summer of 2016.
If Mayor Daley can demonstrate that the citizenry is behind him and that the benefits to Chicago outweigh the negatives, then I am certain that he will throw his full weight and support behind the project. My goal is to help Mayor Daley build the citizen support that will be vital to this effort. I encourage you to post your comments here and voice your support in all other available venues for bringing the Olympics to Chicago.
I believe that luring the Olympics to Chicago would elevate Mayor Daley from the ranks of great mayors into the ranks of legendary mayors.
So far, Mayor Daley has shown some level of interest in bringing the Olympics to Chicago. This past summer he announced that Chicago will make a bid to host the 2016 Olympics. It is anticipated that the IOC will start to collect bids in 2007 so there is time for Chicago to get its act together. But what do we really need to show in order to get Mayor Daley’s full support for the 2016 Chicago Olympics? In short, Mayor D will need to be able to demonstrate to his electorate, to the Chicago City Council and to the State of Illinois that the Olympics will provide more benefits than negatives for Chicago. I am not going to fully outline these arguments right now in this post, but it is clear to me that the benefits will far outweigh the negatives. The benefits will include improved public transportation and mass transit, new facilities, increased tourism and exposure to the world, and tax, TV and tourism revenue. The negatives will include the costs of building out facilities and infrastructure, the disruption of construction and the crowds that will descend on Chicago during the summer of 2016.
If Mayor Daley can demonstrate that the citizenry is behind him and that the benefits to Chicago outweigh the negatives, then I am certain that he will throw his full weight and support behind the project. My goal is to help Mayor Daley build the citizen support that will be vital to this effort. I encourage you to post your comments here and voice your support in all other available venues for bringing the Olympics to Chicago.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Olympic Fever
My name is Krist Werling and I have Olympic Fever.
I am a 29 year old male resident of Chicago, Illinois. Ever since I was a child I have loved the Olympics - both winter and summer. I don't know what it is about the Olympics that drives my love. It could be the intense competition. Or the nationalism. Or the fact that the athletes in most Olympic sports work their entire lives for one short moment of Olympic glory. It could be the combination of all of these factors. Regardless of the source of this love, every two years my life gets put on hold for the two weeks of the Olympics. I rush home from work to watch the latest competitions. I avoid looking at the Internet during the day so as not to spoil the outcomes of the day's competitions. I stay up late into the night and watch them early in the morning. It is my lifes dream to actually go to the Olympics one day.
There is one thing that would be better than watching the Olympics on TV or even going to see the Olympics in a far away country. That would be to have the Olympics come to me. Well, not exactly to me, but to Chicago. I can think of no better city in the world to host the Summer Olympics than Chicago. That's why the title of this Blog is 2016 Olympics in Chicago. I hope through this Blog to advocate, prod, and build support from the citizens of Chicago and the world for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago.
So come on people... Join me as we bring the 2016 Olympics to one of the greatest cities in the world!
I am a 29 year old male resident of Chicago, Illinois. Ever since I was a child I have loved the Olympics - both winter and summer. I don't know what it is about the Olympics that drives my love. It could be the intense competition. Or the nationalism. Or the fact that the athletes in most Olympic sports work their entire lives for one short moment of Olympic glory. It could be the combination of all of these factors. Regardless of the source of this love, every two years my life gets put on hold for the two weeks of the Olympics. I rush home from work to watch the latest competitions. I avoid looking at the Internet during the day so as not to spoil the outcomes of the day's competitions. I stay up late into the night and watch them early in the morning. It is my lifes dream to actually go to the Olympics one day.
There is one thing that would be better than watching the Olympics on TV or even going to see the Olympics in a far away country. That would be to have the Olympics come to me. Well, not exactly to me, but to Chicago. I can think of no better city in the world to host the Summer Olympics than Chicago. That's why the title of this Blog is 2016 Olympics in Chicago. I hope through this Blog to advocate, prod, and build support from the citizens of Chicago and the world for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago.
So come on people... Join me as we bring the 2016 Olympics to one of the greatest cities in the world!
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