After several studies Prague is once again considering whether to bid for the 2016 or 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
As reported in GamesBids.com last year, Prague’s Mayor Pavel Bem told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July 2003 after the (IOC) selected Vancouver to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, that “all of the infrastructure projects we would have to do to prepare for the Olympics are things we need to do anyway, so this would be a win-win for Prague.
Prague Deputy Mayor Jan Burgermeister said that city hall was to debate a possible bid by the Czech capital in January 2005, reports the Associated Press. The official bid for the 2016 Games must be submitted in 2007 and a host city elected in 2009.
According to Miroslav Singer from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the company that performed a cost estimate on the project, organizing and hold a summer Olympiad in Prague would cost more that 130 billion crowns, with about half of the funding coming from private funds and the rest from public coffers.
Singer said that the state and Prague would basically be able to pay for the event and that the city would turn a profit of 25 billion crowns.
To hold the Games in 2020 would cost about 132.6 billion crowns, while the 2016 Games would cost about 135.9 billion.
Singer said these were realistic estimates and include the costs for stadiums, the Olympic and medal Village, expenditures for infrastructure and security.
The study shows that the project would be different from Olympic Games held elsewhere and that the stadiums would be incorporated into the city and not built on the outskirts.
The city will now order a series of further analyses. Burgermeister said, “once we’re done, we either will or will not announce our intention to be a candidate city. We have time for these discussions next year”.
The city council has approved a study in the spring that plans for the construction of the Olympic facilities. The main stadium would be located in Letnany with other facilities all around the city. Other cities and regions would participate in the Games.
Some opposition council members oppose the Games, saying that they would be too expensive and would infringe on regular life in the city too much.
