Organizers in Chicago and London are disputing a report Tuesday in the Guardian newspaper saying thousands of seats from London 2012’s Olympic stadium could be shipped to Chicago if the city wins the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
The Chicago Tribune reports that while organizers say they talked conceptually about temporary stadiums and that structured steel from London’s venue could be used at its Chicago counterpart if transportation costs did not prove exorbitant, there have been no discussions about moving seats.
Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky said, “we have not had discussions with them about purchasing seats or moving any seats over at this point”.
“Seats don’t make a lot of sense. They are readily available and readily disposable” said Doug Arnot, director of sports and operations for Chicago 2016. “The time, trouble, effort and expense to move them overseas make it unlikely for that to ever happen”.
Jackie Brock-Doyle, a spokeswoman for London 2012, confirmed that Arnot spoke recently by telephone with David Higgins, chief executive for London’s Olympic Delivery Authority, but she said the phone call’s primary purpose was to discuss what Chicago could learn about the London 2012 stadium.
Arnot said, “we did talk about the idea, if the appropriate time comes, to discuss what, beyond knowledge, including material, could be transferred”, adding structural steel, which has shot up in price, “could be of interest to us”.
