Daley announces change in plans for Olympic bid

Daley announces change in plans for Olympic b
Thursday, September 21, 2006


By Fran Spielman
Special to the Daily Southtown

Downtown Chicago is the best possible showcase for an Olympic stadium, but it's more important to share the wealth, Mayor Richard Daley said Wednesday.

With that, Daley revised his Olympic dream to benefit his native South Side. It now hinges on construction of a collapsible, 95,000-seat stadium in Washington Park near the Midway Plaisance and the Museum of Science and Industry, enduring legacies of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.

"The best possible site would be downtown. Let's be realistic. But, if you're going to really have a long legacy for the city, you have to move it out into communities," Daley said at a news conference at Washington Park.

Originally, the mayor's plan called for building a temporary stadium between Soldier Field and McCormick Place. The surprise shift stems from two major factors: Daley's long-standing desire for a location that serves as a catalyst for neighborhood development, and the U.S. Olympic Committee's more recent concern about tight lakefront space.

The temporary stadium in Washington Park would house track-and-field events and the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

When the Olympic torch is extinguished, the 85,000 above-ground seats would be dismantled. An "amphitheater stadium" — lushly landscaped with 10,000 seats below grade — would remain for concerts, cultural events and to position Chicago to host premier track-and-field events, city officials said.

San Francisco and Los Angeles also are vying for the right to host the 2016 Summer Games in the United States.

USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth has demanded that an 80,000-to-100,000-seat stadium for the Summer Games be either built or "totally committed" to by Chicago by March 31.

Designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Washington Park would further benefit from two fields for hockey and football, upgraded softball fields, recreational trails and revitalized lagoons. Lighting and security would be improved and underground parking built. Neighborhood streets and el stops would be overhauled. There's even a possibility of new mass transit connections.

"Washington Park is ... one of the great jewels of the park system at the turn of the century. Our goal is to return it to its original luster ... and to make this park come alive for the community," said insurance magnate and longtime Daley friend Patrick Ryan, chairman of Chicago's Olympic Committee. "We look at this as a combination urban legacy to improve the Mid-South Side and to create a sports legacy."

Ryan insisted that the stadium would be privately financed but refused to reveal a specific price tag or pinpoint a location for the Olympic Village.

South Side aldermen were downright ecstatic about the new proposed stadium site because of the jobs that would be created for its construction, the business it would generate during the Olympics and the enduring benefits it would leave behind. In exchange, they were willing to endure an 18-month construction timetable that means putting parts of the park off-limits to the public for two years.

"If you have a facility you can use in perpetuity, that's a net gain," said Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), whose ward includes part of the park.

Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th), whose ward also includes the stadium site, said it's "like we've come full circle" from the Columbian Exposition.

"Now, here we are again with an opportunity to bring an international, phenomenal type of event to this community," she said. "We're just ecstatic about the opportunity. Boy, would this be a shot in the arm for development and community employment."

In fact, jobs for neighborhood residents "isn't a hope, it's going to be a demand,'' said Cecilia Butler, president of the Washington Park Advisory Council, a citizens group.

She noted that Washington is "an Olmsted park'' and "we'll have to negotiate with those values in mind. The idea of a 94,000-seat stadium erected in the park is rather overwhelming.''

Contributing: Andrew Herrmann

Chicago Sun-Times