KCRag Forum

I would be against Kansas City hosting the Olympics. Building the facilities would be done mostly on the public dime, and scarce resources would have to be diverted from other things to do this. Secondly, there is little evidence that cities benefit economically from hosting the Olympics.

In the case of Athens, many of the facilities built for the Olympics there are now derelict.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... ative.html

However if KC/STL and Columbia hosted together, there would be no need for many more facilities - or hotel rooms. Just focus on transit between KC/STL. High speed rail initially built for Olympics would likely create long term economic improvement for both cities.

BTW, Atlanta Olympics actually held many events in TN.

earthling wrote:However if KC/STL and Columbia hosted together, there would be no need for many more facilities - or hotel rooms. Just focus on transit between KC/STL. High speed rail initially built for Olympics would likely create long term economic improvement for both cities.

BTW, Atlanta Olympics actually held many events in TN.

I noticed some soccer games in this Olympics are being held in Scotland.

Soccer matches are always spread out in the host country...there's usually only one or two stadium venues within close proximity to the host city.

If you think about it, KC and St Louis actually have quite a large number of facilities that could be used:
Arrowhead
Kauffman Stadium
Independence event center
Bartle Hall for communications
Sprint Center
Municipal Hall
Allen Fieldhouse
Football stadiums in Lawrence, Columbia
Edward Jones Dome
Kiel Center
Busch Stadium
That arena at St Louis University

Between St Louis and KC all that's missing really are an aquatics center and kayak course.

kcjak wrote:Soccer matches are always spread out in the host country...there's usually only one or two stadium venues within close proximity to the host city.

If you think about it, KC and St Louis actually have quite a large number of facilities that could be used:
Arrowhead
Kauffman Stadium
Independence event center
Bartle Hall for communications
Sprint Center
Municipal Hall
Allen Fieldhouse
Football stadiums in Lawrence, Columbia
Edward Jones Dome
Kiel Center
Busch Stadium
That arena at St Louis University

Between St Louis and KC all that's missing really are an aquatics center and kayak course.

And a velodrome.

And you forgot an Olympic Village for the competitors.

aknowledgeableperson wrote:And you forgot an Olympic Village for the competitors.

Nope, just a tent city down by the river that can be repurposed after the games

I think that they would want to keep things like whitewater (especially) and rowing in a controlled environment to maintain competitive integrity (nature changes, sometimes quickly) and site lines. It is all academic as I can't see KC applying, much less winning, the Olympics in our lifetimes, but I wonder how much they would re-use and how much they would build new? The biggest downside would be Fang's objection about derelict facilities after the games. We do have a number of facilities that could be used for various events- besides Arrowhead, soccer or field hockey at Livestrong, indoor events at the Sprint Center, Kemper, (equestrian at the American Royal?) and Municipal (and quite a lot of sports history at those arenas for the networks). For the whitewater and aquatics, I wonder if a private-public partnership could be worked out with Schlitterbaun to build out there? I would think that white-water would be a potential after Olympics draw for a waterpark, and I would think that there are enough swimming events to make the nadatorium work at some level. Would a dedicated velodrome be necessary? Or could something like the Independence Events Center be used for that? And for stadium seating, we have the best sports architecture companies in the world. Hopefully they could come up with a way to build temporary bleachers to a new building that would look decent (maybe a number of permanent seats in the nadatorium for collegiate/ other amateur events plus temporary walls/ bleachers that would be removed with the walls brought in after the games?)

^KC alone couldn't do it but the state of MO could with water events in Ozarks. Atlanta had their river events in TN. Atlanta was a pretty drab town before the Olympics. Frankly I'm not big on Atlanta but no question it economically took off after the Olympics.

KCMax wrote:IIRC, Chicago actually won the bid in 1904, but the Games got moved to St. Louis for some reason.

The generic answer is because the 1904 Worlds Fair was in St. Louis and St. Louis threatened to do whatever to distract from the Olympics. I never understood that either, though. I'm sure there is a book about it, the 1904 Olympics were kind of a disaster in the shadow of a successful Worlds Fair.

The rumor going around when Chicago was in the running for the 2016 Olympics was that soccer would be in St. Louis.

shinatoo wrote:

kcjak wrote:
Between St Louis and KC all that's missing really are an aquatics center and kayak course.

And a velodrome.

There's a little velodrome here in Penrose Park, a kayak course could be set up in the St. Francois River perhaps. It's at least the premier Kayaking spot in the state or better.

Olympic Trials were held at the Rec-Plex in St. Charles County in the 90s for the Atlanta olympics but it of course wouldnt be suitable (along with the velodrome).


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Om7pveY9p-w/S ... se_now.jpg


http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_rizCYopMwE/0.jpg


http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AeEovvI5eHk/0.jpg



Of course the St. Francois River looks nothing like that right now...............

earthling wrote:Atlanta was a pretty drab town before the Olympics. Frankly I'm not big on Atlanta but no question it economically took off after the Olympics.

I still don't understand why Atlanta got the Olympics, the US just hosted 8 years prior. ATL is so damn hot in the summer. Their had to be some kind of under the table deal when they won those games.

I recall hearing back then the US would often get Olympics because that is where the advertising dollars are - at that time anyway. Atlanta won out of the US, but the selection committee favored the US already for $$$ - at the time anyway.

brewcrew1000 wrote:

earthling wrote:Atlanta was a pretty drab town before the Olympics. Frankly I'm not big on Atlanta but no question it economically took off after the Olympics.

I still don't understand why Atlanta got the Olympics, the US just hosted 8 years prior. ATL is so damn hot in the summer. Their had to be some kind of under the table deal when they won those games.

ATL isnt as hot as STL or KC, though, from my experience.

Sucks that they got it, though. Chicago would have been such a great fit in 2016.

phxcat wrote:The biggest downside would be Fang's objection about derelict facilities after the games.

My concern would be more that the residents of KCMO in Jackson County, with its' higher population of lower-income residents in the Metro, would end up financing the facilities for the games. Scarce funds would be diverted for the games that need to be spent on other more pedestrian purposes like infastructure. The City and County would end up in debt with little economic gain.

If the next open round for bid is for 2024 I would imagine none of the area's current facilities would be used, unless of course some massive upgrades and updates would be implemented. The states of MO and KS would have to be behind it with probably most of the West Bottoms used for the facilities (best area along the state line). Given the time frame for the necessary improvements (like site selection, financing improvements, etc) I doubt the area would be ready in time.

Start now for 2028 or 2032. In other words, a pipe dream. But the first step in a journey like this is to dream.

phxcat wrote: We do have a number of facilities that could be used for various events- besides Arrowhead, soccer or field hockey at Livestrong, indoor events at the Sprint Center, Kemper, (equestrian at the American Royal?) and Municipal (and quite a lot of sports history at those arenas for the networks).

Also keep in mind that by the time KC could apply, or be selected, Kemper Arena will probably be demolished, so one cannot include it among the facilities.

FangKC wrote:

phxcat wrote: We do have a number of facilities that could be used for various events- besides Arrowhead, soccer or field hockey at Livestrong, indoor events at the Sprint Center, Kemper, (equestrian at the American Royal?) and Municipal (and quite a lot of sports history at those arenas for the networks).

Also keep in mind that by the time KC could apply, or be selected, Kemper Arena will probably be demolished, so one cannot include it among the facilities.

I don't harbor any notion of anyone but Chicago and the other largest cities being able to host an olympics. But, playing the "what if" game - there was one plan to build a nice equestrian center in Kemper's place that would be suitable for olympic equestrian events. So, maybe it kind of counts.

I haven't read the entire thread, but where are we putting the Olympic Village?

WSPanic wrote:

FangKC wrote:

phxcat wrote: We do have a number of facilities that could be used for various events- besides Arrowhead, soccer or field hockey at Livestrong, indoor events at the Sprint Center, Kemper, (equestrian at the American Royal?) and Municipal (and quite a lot of sports history at those arenas for the networks).

Also keep in mind that by the time KC could apply, or be selected, Kemper Arena will probably be demolished, so one cannot include it among the facilities.

I don't harbor any notion of anyone but Chicago and the other largest cities being able to host an olympics. But, playing the "what if" game - there was one plan to build a nice equestrian center in Kemper's place that would be suitable for olympic equestrian events. So, maybe it kind of counts.

I haven't read the entire thread, but where are we putting the Olympic Village?

Town Center Plaza.

I guess London is anti-vibrant as well.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics ... 56717080/1
http://www.periscopepost.com/2012/08/ol ... 00677.html