Sep 20, 2006 11:15 pm US/Central
Daley Proposes Olympic Stadium To Be Built
95,000-Seat Stadium Proposed For Washington Park
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
In an effort to boost Chicago's chances to host the
2016 Olympics, Mayor
Richard Daley Wednesday announced a 95,000-seat stadium could be built in
Washington Park on the
South Side.
Daley's announcement could eliminate one of the major roadblocks that the city does not have a stadium large enough to hold some 80,000 people for opening and closing ceremonies. The city had initially had considered using both
Soldier Field where the
Chicago Bears play and a temporary stadium nearby to host opening and closing ceremonies.
"We need a state of the art athletics facility to win and we had the land here that will allow for that," Chicago Olympic Committee chairman
Patrick Ryan said at the park.
Daley said the South Side park, which is one of the city's oldest and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will become the site of Olympic Stadium. The stadium would house the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as track and field events and open-air festivals. The Olympic Cauldron would be on display at the stadium for the duration of the games and would remain there as an ongoing memorial to the Olympics in Chicago.
While Ryan and Daley were joined at Wednesday's announcement by South Side aldermen excited about the economic impact the Olympics would have on their community, the stadium idea received a cool reception in other circles.
The president of a parks advocacy group says there are other undeveloped parcels of land on the city's South Side that would make better stadium sites.
An original designer of Washington Park was
Frederick Law Olmsted, who is renowned for creating New York's Central Park, according to the electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago, a project of the
Chicago History Museum and the
Newberry Library.
"The idea of a 95,000-seat stadium just doesn't fit within an Olmsted-designed park," Friends of the Parks President Erma Tranter said.
Though some residents worry about the impact on parking, others said the stadium would bring an economic boost.
"Hopefully it can bring jobs to this community," said Chicagoan Terrus Marshall.
Daley called the site "perfect" because it would spread the wealth of any potential Olympics outside the city's downtown nucleus. He said building a stadium in the park would have enormous economic impact on the surrounding neighborhoods by creating jobs and other opportunities.
"It would help the South Side tremendously," Daley said.
Ryan wouldn't say how much the stadium would cost to build, but he said it would be privately financed.
Washington Park is bordered by 51st Street on the north, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the west, 60th Street on the south and Cottage Grove Avenue on the east.
Experts have said a separate large facility would be preferable to other alternatives. After the Olympic Games conclude, the Olympic Stadium would be downsized into a 10,000-seat stadium that would host local, national and international track-and-field meets, Daley said.
Chicago ,
San Francisco and
Los Angeles are the three U.S. cities in the running to host the 2016 Olympics.
The final decision will come next year. The
U.S. Olympic Committee might end up not submitting any American city for consideration, but feedback has been that now could be the time for a U.S. host. The country last hosted a Summer Games in 1996 in Atlanta.
As for the other cities, if San Francisco wins the bid, city officials said they plan to build a new stadium and housing for athletes by the city's waterfront that would later be used as apartments.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, still has stadiums and water parks left over from the 1932 and 1984 Olympics to meet most of the Olympic Games' needs, officials there said.
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