Should Washington become the U.S. candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, events will be held in and around Washington and Baltimore. Originally called the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition, the name was shortened to the Washington 2012 bid – a requirement of the International Olympic Committee that doesn’t want dual city bids.
Ioanna T. Morfessis, president and chief executive of the Greater Baltimore Alliance and a member of the board of directors for the local bid, told the Baltimore Sun “I see us being elevated to the stature of a world-class city with flags of every country waving, every language on the planet being spokes and everyone has a smile on their face, including the vendors. We’d get exposure on TV that not even the richest company could afford to buy”.
She added, “so many of the people who come to the Olympics as observers, sponsors and participants are decision makers. Some of them have direct influence on where companies locate. There would be a direct benefit on the long-term economic development of the greater Baltimore region”.
Dan Knise, president and chief executive of the coalition behind the regional bid said, “we made the Olympic team last October. Now we have to win the medal”.
A local attorney, Paul G. Levy, who dreamed up the ideal of Baltimore bidding for the Games said, “the Maryland-Baltimore part of the bid, from the very first time we sat around a table and thought this through, was critical. Without the Maryland-Baltimore component, the bid itself could not have gone through”. The state has a wealth of existing modern sports facilities, reports the Sun.
Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley has promised a new Baltimore Arena if the bid is successful. The arena would require 18,000 seats and would be financed by a public-private partnership, according to local organizers. A proposed velodrome in Baltimore would have 5,500 seats.
A large part of the $610 million earmarked for capital costs would pay for any Olympic Sports Complex and about $230 million would pay for capital improvements in Maryland, including the new area and velodrome, and a connector linking the University of Maryland to Interstate 95.
According to John A. Moag Jr., chief executive of Moag & Co., a sports investment banking firm, the Olympic stadium will be in Washington. “But in many respects, the state of Maryland is the anchor landlord. We’re big winners any way you look at it”.
The regional bid has the support of the mayors of Baltimore and Washington, Virginia officials and the region’s business community.
