2016 olympics why not chicago

Bid leaders also had promised a burnished image for the city, which seems a distant goal given recent tumult. Since losing the bid, Chicago's reputation has suffered a series of setbacks stemming from the police shooting of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald, the escalating murder rate, and the fiscal instability of the city, its schools and its state government.

Meanwhile, the vision of a vibrant new community on the former Michael Reese site has failed to materialize. Developing a post-bid strategy has proven difficult. Each scenario envisioned different anchor uses, either a casino, a cluster of convention hotels or the Obama library. State approval for a Chicago casino has remained out of reach; the Obama library is expected go in either Jackson or Washington parks, and expansion of convention hotel offerings is taking place closer to McCormick Place and the planned DePaul arena.

Change can't come soon enough for Rosemary Jarrett. As she finished a vigorous lap around Washington Park, she envisioned a day when the city is both safe and financially secure enough to consider another bid. In the meantime, she'll be watching the Games — including those in Rio next month — on her television. Skip to content. Data: Chicago's Olympics bid: Where the venues would have been. Details on the proposed venue locations for the failed Chicago Olympic bids.

By Kyle Bentle. Jul 14, at PM. Vacant land where Michael Reese Hospital stood on June 21, , at the proposed Olympic athlete village. Perhaps the bid's most lasting legacy will be even more expensive. But no workable redevelopment plan has surfaced. Chicago bid book. A rumbling interception return. A look back at the Chicago Bears, an exciting — and unexpected — team filled with characters, tough guys and special moments.

Rendering of the proposed Olympic Stadium and venues for track and field, swimming and diving in Washington Park. Still, some South Side residents can't help but imagine what might have been. Rendering of the proposed Olympic village for athlete housing on the Michael Reese Hospital site. The only variable that increased was hotel rates — and most of this money went to headquarters of chain hotels located in other cities.

The consensus about the Olympics seems to be that if it's done well, the benefits are comparable to doing similar, unrelated public investments with the added difficulty of shoehorning the Games' unique demands into broad-based infrastructure plans that serve the city for more than a couple weeks.

The absolute best-case scenario is that you actually make money, but the circumstances that led to Los Angeles's substantial profits were specific and unlikely. The more typical scenario is that you do the above while incurring debt.

The worst-case scenario is… well, we may be about to witness it, though for Rio's sake it hopefully won't be that much worse than usual. That consensus, though, was known before the problems in Rio began to mount; it was known when Chicago was bidding for the Olympics in the first place, which is why there was a robust movement against it.

Just a month before the selection the city was evenly divided , with just 47 percent in favor of hosting the games versus 45 percent against, in no small part because Mayor Daley decided to put the city on the hook for potential losses at the very end of the years-long process.

Rio isn't the cautionary tale; it's that the cautionary tales were known, and ignored by so many. Chicago magazine newsletters have you covered. Find out where to go, what to eat, where to live, and more. Subscribe for free today! Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago.

Subscribe Newsletters. Search for:. Events Subscribe. Chicago's skyline primps for its Olympic bid in But even more than typical events in the city, the games would have brought millions of people to parts of the South Side that have rarely been tourist destinations.

He guaranteed the city would do it on the cheap, using as many existing venues as possible and avoiding the follies of other cities that sank billions into new infrastructure. Daley made sure the nonprofit in charge of the bid, Chicago , and his hand-picked leader, Aon Corp. Businesses and foundations contributed the tens of millions it took to even work up the proposal.

Just explaining that plan to the IOC involved people from Chicago making technical presentations, with many more behind the scenes working on the logistics, Murray said.

The plan called for gussying up 16 existing venues. Soldier Field was to host soccer, and McCormick Place would host everything from table tennis to weightlifting and gymnastics. Fifteen venues — mostly temporary — would be built.

Northerly Island would be turned into a center for volleyball and boating, including a tiny river of rapids for slalom kayaking. Douglas Park on the West Side would have been remade with temporary facilities for gymnastics and cycling events. The largest venue would have been the 80,seat stadium in Washington Park on the South Side. The area in and around the park would have hosted seven events, including swimming, diving, track and field and the opening ceremonies. The Olympics were to be the largest investment in the park since its construction, with a new pool left after the games for Dyett High School.

In addition, the General Jones Armory would be converted into a new amenity for the park, and the main stadium, in a stripped down version, would also remain.

The three-hour opening ceremonies would have been at 6 p. Lake Shore Drive would have been jammed with cars and buses ferrying the , athletes, trainers and staff under a new promenade over the road connecting the 21 buildings housing athletes to their private beach and training facilities on the shore at 29th Street, where Michael Reese Hospital once stood.

Two-thirds of the visitors to the games were expected to get to and from the venues using Metra and CTA commuter rail because there were no plans to provide parking at any venues.

Many visitors coming from hotels Downtown would get off the Metra Electric Line trains at 59th Street for the long parade of Olympics celebrations down the Midway Plaisance boulevard leading to Washington Park and the main stadium. There would have been crowds everywhere to watch the competitions on giant LED screens set up in parks, particularly Downtown, for those without tickets.

But the neighborhoods would have been somewhat sheltered. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Although the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are coming to an end this weekend, Chicago's most recent and best shot at hosting the international athletic event came to an end in October when the International Olympic Committee eliminated the Windy City's host bid in the first round of voting.

After spending millions of dollars sprucing up the city and countless hours of lobbying from some of the city's country's most powerful figures, Chicago's dreams vanished over night. The Games in Sochi have been marred by technical errors and the incessant griping from media representatives about the living conditions in the Russian city. But Chicago's Olympic bid will be remembered for being the lowest scoring bid in the first round, essentially making it dead on arrival at the st International Olympic Committee Session.