Jun 12, 2006 6:00 pm US/Central
Collapsible Stadium Proposed For Chicago Olympics
Mayor's Office Says Idea Is Just Conjecture
by Sylvia Gomez
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Olympic events take years of planning, millions of dollars and a huge stadium.
CBS 2's Sylvia Gomez reports on the new options for an Olympic-caliber stadium here in Chicago.
The pomp and ceremony of the global Olympics is not the pipe dream it once was for Chicago. Could the patriotism of Atlanta or the history of Athens land here along the lakefront?
"It's thinking outside the box," said Sportscorp Ltd.'s Marc Ganis.
Marc Ganis is president of a company that develops sports facilities. With 24 stadiums under his belt, he believes one of the most interesting ideas to come along is to build a collapsible stadium.
"It's just one that won't have a lot of the bells and whistles and won't have a lot of the things that add a lot of cost to stadiums these days," Ganis said.
Although it would be collapsible, the stadium would still be a major facility with bathrooms and suites. There would be no exterior landscaping or façade. It would be knocked down then the Olympics pack up.
Other options include tearing down what many call the eye-sore of McCormick Place East or converting what others call the eye-sore of Soldier Field.
Either way, it won't be cheap.
"You'd be looking at the range of $300 to $450 million," Ganis said.
Touring the Little Village High School with his Olympic rival, the mayor of Los Angeles, Daley says all ideas are on the table and nothing is leading the pack yet.
"The whole concept is how does it benefit the city in the long run? What do we have, basically, left when the Olympics leave?" Daley said.
The Olympic Exploratory Committee has not been completely formed yet. Word about the proposed stadium is just conjecture, the mayor's office said.
Still, Marc Ganis believes a collapsible stadium would cost half what a new stadium would and the cost of tickets might actually pay for it in the end.
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