If Chicago wins its bid to host the 2016 Olympics, Evanston and Northwestern will be greatly affected, said city and university officials, who got their first look at the “bid book” on Friday.
“It’ll be a significant thing for Evanston to be in the spotlight for the entire world for at least a few days in 2016,” said Ald. Edmund Moran (6th), who added he hoped the 2016 Chicago Olympic committee will be working with transportation agencies in Chicago to upgrade facilities for the summer games.
But some also expressed concern about the potential cost of the games.
“I would hate to think that my property tax would go up,” said Helen Wood, director of the Center for Student Involvement. “We already pay the highest sales tax in the nation, so are we now going to have to pay more sales tax?”
If Chicago wins, NU’s Ryan Field would host the five events of the Olympic pentathlon – shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running. According to Chicago’s bid book, which outlines exact venues and costs, the games would cost the city approximately $4.8 billion.
Officials released the book last Friday, and the International Olympic Committee will announce the winning bid in October.
The specific costs for Evanston and Chicago residents will become clearer if Chicago wins the bid, Moran said. He said the games “probably would” cost the city more money but that the changes wouldn’t adversely affect residents.
The Chicago committee plans to use Evanston hotels as a main source of lodging for athletes and spectators, Moran said. He said the committee was “excited” at the prospect of a huge influx of international tourists using city services.
“I think it will show people what a beautiful place Chicago is, what a compelling and interesting place it is,” he said. “In our own little way, the same thing will be true for Evanston.”
Many NU athletes welcome the opportunity to host the Olympics.
Weinberg sophomore Ellen Grigg swam at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last summer and said having the Olympics close to Evanston would generate more publicity for unrecognized NU sports.
“If people saw that other people were really into these Olympic sports, it would make them more excited about less popular spectator sports like swimming and tennis,” Grigg said.
Some students have been involved in helping Chicago to win the bid.
Weinberg sophomore Peter Park pushed for the Chicago 2016 campaign last summer when he traveled to the Beijing Olympic Games as a U.S. ambassador for the Olympic Youth Camp. Park, who blogged about his experiences in Beijing to generate excitement for the 2016 Olympics, said the lack of country-wide excitement is the biggest obstacle to Chicago receiving the games.
“In the U.S., when we’re focusing on one city, it’s hard to feel that excitement everywhere else,” Park said.
But even some area residents said they weren’t excited about the possibility of the Olympics coming.
Wood said hosting the Olympics in Chicago would be an “inappropriate use of funds.” She said the city should spend funds on more pressing issues, such as improving Chicago Public Schools and public transportation.
“I don’t know that a community should be taking on multimillion dollar expenses when we can’t fund current infrastructure to get people from point A to point B already every day, ” Wood said.
Others said they hoped the Chicago committee’s efforts would improve the city.
“In terms of Evanston, while we have a lot of degraded infrastructure elements to the CTA as well as the Metra line, hopefully those will be upgraded in anticipation of the Olympics,” Moran said. “My hope is that Evanston will improve, not suffer, in the wake of the Olympics.”
The alderman said hosting the Olympics in Chicago would begin the city’s reputation as a “world-class city.”
“It’s a tremendous event that can unify people of all the nations of the world,” Moran said. “We saw that in Beijing, and to see that happen in Chicago and Evanston will be so big that it will put Chicago and the area in a very positive light.”
