City's Olympic bid gets some Island flavor
Hours after the United States Olympic Committee agreed to put forth an American bid, Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan also revealed that he has raised $25 million in contributions from individuals, corporations and private foundations to finance the city's Olympic bid.
That's $5 million more than Chicago must have "in the bank" by March 31 to compete with Los Angeles, the only other U.S. city still in the running.
The Chicago "bid book" is due to the USOC Jan. 22.
Competing cities must provide what USOC Vice President Bob Ctvrtlik has called "much higher levels of commitments and guarantees" about how the Olympic stadium, international broadcast center and Olympic Village will be financed.
On Tuesday, Ryan refused to talk turkey about finances. He would only say the Chicago games would be "funded operationally privately" with venues built on public land and secured by Chicago Police.
April 14 is decision day for the USOC. The Evaluation Team will present its findings to the USOC's Board of Directors. Chicago and Los Angeles will make final presentations.
The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to make its choice in October 2009. Chicago's principal overseas competitors are expected to be Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Madrid. Other bids may come from Istanbul, Doha, Qatar, and possibly New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Park District board is likely to OK an agreement today that turns control of park space over to the city in making Olympic preparations. Parks Supt. Timothy Mitchell said Olympic-connected construction could leave future park-goers with new restrooms, concession stands, tennis courts and harbor improvements. "Understandably there will be some inconveniences," but the improvements "could be worth millions of dollars," said Mitchell.
Contributing: Andrew Herrmann