Thursday, June 15, 2000
Olympic plans include Jacobs Field, Rupp Arena, Freedom Hall
By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If Cincinnati lands the 2012 Olympics, the games would be spread across much of Ohio and into Kentucky.
While the majority of the proposed Olympic venues would be along Cincinnati's riverfront or at the University of Cincinnati, there could be baseball in Cleveland, fencing in Columbus, boxing in Louisville and basketball in Lexington.
The list of proposed venues, made public Wednesday, is one of the most important aspects of any city's bid to land the games.
“This information is the threshold you have to pass if you want to be seriously considered,” said Nick Vehr, president of Cincinnati 2012 Inc., the organization trying to bring the games to the Queen City.
“If you can't put together a believable venue plan, there's no way you can make it to the next step,” he said.
That next step is to get on a short list of U.S. cities vying to host the event. The United States Olympic Committee will pare down the eight cities bidding on the games sometime in the spring of 2002.
About six months later, a final U.S. city will be selected to compete internationally for the 2012 games.
Cincinnati 2012 Inc. has picked venues across the region. Mr. Vehr said he believes Cincinnati will have more existing facilities in its bid than any of the others.
“Our goal is to show them more photographs than drawings,” Mr. Vehr said.
Among the photographs that will be in the bid package:
• Jacobs Field in Cleveland would host the first week of baseball, before the second week shifts to the new Reds ballpark which, of course, will have to be a drawing in the bid.
• Rupp Arena in Lexington would host the early rounds of men's and women's basketball, before the medal rounds are shifted to UC.
• Paul Brown Stadium would probably host opening and closing ceremonies, along with soccer.
• Firstar Center would be the only site for hard-court volleyball during the two weeks of games.
• The Schottenstein Arena in Columbus would host wrestling.
• The ATP Center near Kings Island would host tennis.
• Freedom Hall in Louisville would be home to boxing.
Mr. Vehr said he was sold on that venue during a recent trip to Louisville.
“I met Muhammad Ali,” Mr. Vehr said. “He whispered in my ear: "Boxing belongs in Louisville.'”
Mr. Vehr's response?
“I just said: "Yes, Champ.'”
But there will be plenty of drawings in the Cincinnati proposal, as well.
Of the nearly 60 Olympic events or villages to be accounted for, only five have not yet found a proposed home. But at least 11 new facilities would have to be built. Among them:
• A temporary dome would be built atop the Nippert Stadium at UC, so that facility could host the medal rounds in basketball and gymnastics.
• An aquatics center would be built on the UC campus if Cincinnati is awarded the games. The university has agreed to save a site on campus.
• A large track-and-field venue is proposed along the western Cincinnati riverfront. The facility would hold about 60,000 people during the games; then temporary seats could be removed so a venue of about 10,000 seats remained.
Bob Harty, executive director of communication at Georgia Tech, said the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta left a legacy at the univer sity, which served as a site for aquatic events and the Olympic Village.
Mr. Harty said more than $168 million in construction at Georgia Tech is directly related to the games in the form of housing, the aquatics center, a renovated basketball arena and more.
The new aquatics center was built with 11,000 seats for the games, and now has 1,500 seats for college competition. That is comparable to the track facility Cincinnati 2012 hopes to build on the river.
“That is very, very doable,” Mr. Harty said. “You put the permanent seats on one side and the temporary seats on the other.”
The Olympics, he said, left a legacy at Georgia Tech.
“It changed the way we deliver education and the way our students live on campus.”
Proposed Olympic venues
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