Detroit's 6 failed bids for the Olympic Games

[iheartthed]

We have the Olympics in London next year and it is already a very vexed issue. A lot of money has been spent and very few jobs have materialised. Most local people are tired of it already. What will happen to the site afterwards? I assume what usually happens which is that some bits are bought by wealthy developers and the rest just falls apart.

I'm not sure why a city like London [[or New York for that matter) would even want to host it. Aren't other cities like Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow capable of hosting the games? Seems like those other cities would benefit more from the exposure...

[ghettopalmetto]

I'm not sure why a city like London [[or New York for that matter) would even want to host it. Aren't other cities like Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow capable of hosting the games? Seems like those other cities would benefit more from the exposure...

I think the "benefits" to be derived from "exposure" are just a load of PR hot air. Since 1896, the Summer Olympics have been held in larger, "world" cities. I'm not sure how one quantifies whether any increase in tourism to say, Seoul or Sydney, is strictly attributable to hosting the Olympic Games.

The Winter Games, on the other hand... Is anyone really flocking to Sarajevo or Lillehammer for vacation just because they may have heard those names on television???

The Olympics were once-fantastic to watch on television, but I think that's about it. Atlanta is still a piece of shit city, but now they have a great big empty moonscape called Centennial Olympic Park smack in the middle of downtown. Hooray--what progress.

[Danny]

In 1968 Detroit is one step away of getting the Olympics, but the problem was the cost of feeding all the athletes. Detroit City Council didn have the money to cover the feeding cost and its endorsers are not interested. The sponsors also don't want to look at some venues that too close to the riot stricken ghettohoods so they pull out the IOC choose Mexico City, Mexico to host the 1968 Olympics.

[iheartthed]

I think the "benefits" to be derived from "exposure" are just a load of PR hot air. Since 1896, the Summer Olympics have been held in larger, "world" cities. I'm not sure how one quantifies whether any increase in tourism to say, Seoul or Sydney, is strictly attributable to hosting the Olympic Games.

The Winter Games, on the other hand... Is anyone really flocking to Sarajevo or Lillehammer for vacation just because they may have heard those names on television???

The Olympics were once-fantastic to watch on television, but I think that's about it. Atlanta is still a piece of shit city, but now they have a great big empty moonscape called Centennial Olympic Park smack in the middle of downtown. Hooray--what progress.

Well, Atlanta's problems as a city is a result of misguided regional planning. But I think Atlanta has benefited from a sustained tourism boost that probably wouldn't have otherwise materialized. If a city with assets to sell, like Detroit or Birmingham, England, could get a couple weeks of uninterrupted publicity to refresh its image, that might have a similar pay off.

[ghettopalmetto]

Well, Atlanta's problems as a city is a result of misguided regional planning. But I think Atlanta has benefited from a sustained tourism boost that probably wouldn't have otherwise materialized. If a city with assets to sell, like Detroit or Birmingham, England, could get a couple weeks of uninterrupted publicity to refresh its image, that might have a similar pay off.

Atlanta's post-war economy has always been predicated on tourism, though. The former head of Delta Airlines tricked, er, convinced the City of Atlanta to build an enormous convention center in the 1950s, because he figured it would result in more people flying on Delta. He wasn't wrong. Since then, it's just one outsized tourist trap after another, the most recent one being the Georgia Aquarium [[even though Atlanta is over 200 miles from a large body of water and barely has enough drinking water in the summer).

The problem with "refreshing your image" is that you better have the substance to justify it. Otherwise, you're just selling an empty marketing message.

We've been through this before--no Super Bowl or NCAA tournament or All-Star Game or Olympics or any other temporary event is going to change a damned thing about Detroit. I'd worry more about fixing the very *real* problems and spending money to make Detroit a better place to live and do business, rather than throwing visual tchotchkes to everyone on God's green earth.

[bartock]

In 1968 Detroit is one step away of getting the Olympics, but the problem was the cost of feeding all the athletes. Detroit City Council didn have the money to cover the feeding cost and its endorsers are not interested. The sponsors also don't want to look at some venues that too close to the riot stricken ghettohoods so they pull out the IOC choose Mexico City, Mexico to host the 1968 Olympics.

Mexico City was chosen by the IOC in 1963.

[dtowncitylover]

And then right before the Mexico City games, they had the Tlatelolco Massacre...good choice IOC!

I have a theory that if Detroit had given the '68 Games, Detroiters would have been too busy preparing and working together for the Olympics to riot. We probably could have used much of the infrastructure that would have been built...

[Danny]

Mexico City was chosen by the IOC in 1963.

Detroit was in the bid for the Olympics. The IOC observed Detroit's image and cityscape a couple times during the 60s to see how its developing through financial and regionalization. It did well until the 67 riots came. The IOC still want Detroit to host the Olympics in 1968. But there was a problem. Not enough sponsors and the city council couldn't cover the cost of the food for the athletes and other city-suburbs relationship problems.

Here's how the the bid happen.

Detroit was on top since 1964 followed by Mexico City, Mexico; Lyon, France and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

At the 60th IOC Conference in Baden Baden, Germany in October 18th, 1963. After carefully looking at the cityscapes. Mexico, City, Mexico suddenly came up with more finances than Detroit, MI. and the IOC picked Mexico City, Mexico to host the Summer Olympics.

[bartock]

Detroit was a bid for the Olympics [[ actually in 1964 by the IOC) The IOC observed Detroit's image and cityscape a couple times during the 60s to see how its developing through financial and regionalization. It did well until the 67 riots came. The IOC still want Detroit to host the Olympics in 1968. But there was a problem. Not enough sponsors and the city council couldn't cover the cost of the food for the athletes and other city-suburbs relationship problems. So the IOC decided to Mexico City, Mexico to host the Olympics.

Annual IOC meeting in October of 1963 is when Mexico City got the games.

They would not have and could not have pulled the bid and given it to Detroit in 1967.

[Danny]

Right now Detroit has NOT got the any bid from the IOC for the next Olympic Games since 1972. And it never will until its image is clean up and more regional dollars come in. Detroit may NOT get the IOC bid for the Olympic Games for next 100 years.

[Danny]

Annual IOC meeting in October of 1963 is when Mexico City got the games.

They would not have and could not have pulled the bid and given it to Detroit in 1967.

Here's the sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9uWSNbHEps

This was the film that was introduced to the IOC Comittee in Baden Baden, Germany in October 18th 1968

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Summer_Olympics

This is the prime evidence:

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Any more arguments you want to protest?

Neda, I miss you so.

[bartock]

Here's the sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9uWSNbHEps

This was the film that was introduced to the IOC Comittee in Baden Baden, Germany in October 18th 1968

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Summer_Olympics

This is the prime evidence:

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Any more arguments you want to protest?

Neda, I miss you so.

Yes there are. All of your arguments.

First sentence from YOUR Wikipedia source says:

"On October 18, 1963, at the 60th IOC Session in Baden-Baden, West Germany, Mexico City finished ahead of bids from Detroit, Buenos Aires and Lyon to host the Games.
IOC voting[1]CityCountryRound 1Mexico CityMexico30DetroitUnited States14LyonFrance12Buenos AiresArgentina2"




I do not see where Detroit was picked over Mexico City in October of 1968 to host the already-concluded 1968 summer games.

I do not see anything suggesting that Detroit was the favorite to host the 1968 summer games but lost it due to riots that didn't occur for five years.

I do see that Detroit in the 1963 vote by a large margin, sort of like it did when it made it to the final round for hosting the 1964 games.

[Gistok]

You are aware that by typing in "Olympic Games" after clicking "search site" at the left side of the screen will show you years of threads on the same topic, right? http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...20-Olympic-bid Post 15 mentions previous bids as do many other threads on the olympics..

Go spread your cheer on all the open Madison Building threads... and as for the Rasputing comparison...

[begingri]

Flashback Friday: Detroit’s Olympic Dream

http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/...olympic-dream/

[Hermod]

I think Detroit should make an Olympics bid, and soon. It is perfectly catered for this city. We're massively in debt, we have tons of available land and alterable infrastructure, we have a practically unused waterfront, a spectacular park system, and we're willing to do it for cheaper than any other city. Detroit would see an influx of billions of dollars, leveraging us out of our massive debt and enabling all of the projects to restore and rebuild the city. The Olympics would certainly bring with it new structures and venues and new uses for our vacant land, but also the certain restoration of the Michigan Central Station and other important historic structures in the city. The eyes of the world would be transfixed on our community's pride and history, focussing the charitable and public effort to lift Detroit out of its spate of misfortunes and hardships.

Except that the Olympics do not say, "Give us your land and we will build on it, use it, and then give it to you."

What the Olympics do say is, "Build us our facility, we will use it, then we will go away leaving you holding the bag."

You forgot the little piece of the PowerPoint where you show the slide that says, "and then God makes it rain $100 dollar bills to pay for everything."

[Kathleen]

The '68 Games: Detroit's Unrealized Olympic Dreams

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...pic-dreams.php

[night-timer]

Apart from having or building the necessary sports venues for Olympic sports, many cities who host the games struggle to find enough hotel rooms for the thousands of visitors who briefly converge on a city for the Olympic period.

Sydney used passenger ocean liners and moored them on Sydney Harbour as 'floating hotels' for the 2000 summer games. I'm not sure if Detroit has the hotel rooms. Maybe. Maybe not.

[Ray1936]

Nevada is making a bid at Lake Tahoe for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Folks down here in Las Vegas couldn't care less. It's kind of what Detroiters would say if Houghton/Hancock was shooting for them.

[Danny]

The '68 Games: Detroit's Unrealized Olympic Dreams


http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...pic-dreams.php

Like those venues, Kathleen. If Detroit won the 1968 Summer Olympic bid. It would help create over 500,000 jobs. Immigrants and people of races will bum rush to Detroit for work, neighborhoods will be diverse. It's population will over 1.7 million and become steady in the next 40 years. Not to mention more regional jobs. Violent crime will be reduced, but will increase into the 1980s. Downtown Detroit skyline will be filled with 80 to 100 story buildings. Then Detroit will get another Olympic bid by 2012 and won.

[Onthe405]

Thanks in large part to to the guidance & vision of Peter Ueberroth & the late Mayor Tom Bradley, the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics not only didn't cost the city money, but the net $232 million in revenue is still filtering its way throughout communities in SoCal 30 years after the closing ceremonies, via the LA84 Foundation.

The cornerstone of Ueberroth's approach to '84 was to study the history of financial debacles experienced in other locales---and not to repeat them. The first of which was to use existing facilities & infrastructure, rather than spend billions building an "Olympic Village" which frequently serves as financial white elephant once the Games are over.

Rather than grandiose construction, funds were used to make minor modifications to existing facilities, coordinating the logistics of transporting spectators to to their venues, and working with unions, major employers, and the public in order to accommodate the visitors. Hard as it is to fathom, even the insurmountable challenge of LA's infamous traffic nightmare was conquered for those few weeks.

It can be done, but the goal of the Games has to be twofold: to shine a PR spotlight on the city [[frequently achieved), but also not to be stuck with a big tab afterward [[rarely, and more difficult, to achieve).

[dtowncitylover]

After this winter I think Detroit or Up North/UP should try for a Winter Game. Less hassle and pressure than the Summer Games. We can only dream, can't we...

[iheartthed]

After this winter I think Detroit or Up North/UP should try for a Winter Game. Less hassle and pressure than the Summer Games. We can only dream, can't we...

Where would they host the ski events?

[mtburb]

Where would they host the ski events?

Possibly either Mount Brighton, Pine Knob, Mount Holly or maybe even the tall garbage dumps in Riverview or Auburn Hills.

[Smirnoff]

Eddy Hines and/or Rouge Park.....

[iheartthed]

Possibly either Mount Brighton, Pine Knob, Mount Holly or maybe even the tall garbage dumps in Riverview or Auburn Hills.

Yeah... I don't think those will work.