Chicago Bid For The 2016 Summer Olympics - Bid Details

Bid Details

Chicago has had prior experience with Olympic bids. In 1901, the city was unanimously chosen by the IOC to stage the 1904 Summer Olympics, but the Games were moved to St. Louis to coincide with the 1904 World's Fair. Chicago also bid for the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics, without success. Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley visited Beijing – host city of the 2008 Summer Olympics – on May 15, 2006, where he collected information on hosting. The bidding process for the 2016 Olympic Games was officially launched on May 16, 2007.

In June 2007, Olympic bid committee Chairman and CEO, Patrick G. Ryan announced that David P. Bolger was appointed chief operating officer and Rick Ludwig as chief financial officer.

The Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee announced the details of the Olympic bid application on January 15, 2008. 22 of the 27 Olympic venues will be in four clusters within 15 km of the Olympic Village. Five new venues and eleven temporary venues would have been built for the games at a cost $49.3 million; these construction costs, and the costs of the games were to be borne by the private sector, with the government financing the infrastructure.

The bid committee filed a 600-page candidacy file with the IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland on February 12, 2009. The file responded to 227 questions given to each candidate city. On February 13, the candidacy file with the final version of Chicago's 2016 Olympic plan was publicly released.

(left to right) President of the United States Barack Obama, Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley, Olympians Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps and celebrity Oprah Winfrey.

Chicago's bid was supported by major preliminary corporate commitments, philanthropic efforts by wealthy Chicagoans, promised planning participation by a wide range of community and government leaders, and the enthusiasm of the citizenry. Local support for the bid on the South Side, particularly in the Washington Park and Woodlawn community areas, was divided. Ben Joravsky, a Chicago Reader columnist, was one of the strongest critics of the Chicago 2016 bid. However, 2007 opinion polls indicated 76 percent public support. In 2009, as the final selection approached, opponents of the bid became vocal even though organizers seemed to be pleased with the bid's progress and presentation. Peter Ueberroth stated, "Chicago is going in the right direction, and we are impressed by that."

Long-time Chicago resident and current President of the United States Barack Obama was a supporter of Chicago's bid since its inception and noted his support during his Presidential election victory speech in Grant Park. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Denmark to support Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Michael Jordan was an unofficial spokesman for Chicago's bid. Chicago media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Olympic champion Michael Phelps had been widely promoting the bid since the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The bid plan emphasized use of Chicago Park District parks (Washington Park, Burnham Park, Lincoln Park, Douglas Park and Grant Park). In addition, existing facilities such as Soldier Field and McCormick Place would have hosted events. In addition to the event sites, the bid included North side, downtown Loop and South Side celebration locations in Lincoln and Grant Parks as well as the Midway Plaisance respectively that would have had JumboTrons for unticketed visitors. The bid noted the high concentration of event locations; the majority of event sites would have been clustered together.