Some Tulsa city councillors support a 2020 Summer Olympic bid from Tulsa, and Tulsa’s Olympic committee is working on getting a letter of support next year from Tulsa’s Mayor Dewey Bartlett and the full city council.
City council member Jack Henderson said, “when I first heard about this, I was kind of like, Tulsa? Hosting the Olympics? C’mon. Be for real”. He added that “a lot of people were laughing. Now less people are laughing and more people are listening”.
Henderson said, “it’s not going to cost us anything at this point, so money is not an issue, since we’re strapped as a city. But still, we need to one day focus in on trying to make something happen down the road and benefit this city”.
Committee Chairman Neil Mavis is reportedly serious about the bid. He said Tulsa will work with universities and municipalities to lessen the risk of facilities being abandoned later, reports Tulsa World. He said that the velodrome for cycling events at the 1996 Atlanta Games was built as a temporary building.
“What we’re trying to do is copy the Atlanta model, which is get all private funding to fund the bid”, said Mavis.
NewsOn6 reports Atlanta outsourced some events as far away as Miami and Washington D.C. and Tulsa would use nine universities across the state for the venue space.
Mavis added even a failed bid would generate positive publicity and national respect.
