The five cities bidding for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games have been preparing to bid for about 20 years, so reports say it’s not too early for Philadelphia to explore a bid for the 2024 or 2028 Summer Games.
Although area academics have toyed with an Olympic bid before, according to a report in a Philadelphia newspaper, a two-phased study funded by the William Penn Foundation, the first part of which was completed in June, did a survey to see what sports venues, housing and transportation infrastructure are available and what would be needed.
Part 2 is scheduled over the next six months and will examine personal and financial capital.
Preliminary results show that the study team should keep on going. The June report found that the region already has 17 of the required 31 sports venues and can readily provide temporary venues for seven more, including five at the Convention Center.
Reports say the region also ranks high in transportation and accommodation, two criteria weighed heavily by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). With upgrades to existing mass transit, the region could easily move thousands of athletes, fans and media daily.
An Olympic Village would have to be constructed to house athletes, but the region has 38,000 hotel rooms of the 40,000 needed.
There won’t be a problem filling arenas – Philadelphia is within a day’s drive of 30 million people.
The region will need stadium renovations, transit expansion and affordable housing in the next 20 years and an Olympic bid provides a useful planning framework.
Steven T. Wray, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Economy League told the newspaper, “these are things we need to figure out how to do anyway. It gets us thinking about what we’re going to be like in 2026”.
