And you thought the London Olympics had problems

by Lauren Williamson/Sail-World Cruising on 28 Oct 2007 Winning the right to host the Olympic Games frequently causes stresses within the winning community as the city struggles to compromise between the challenges of staging Olympic events and keeping the local population happy.

It's starting right now in Chicago, and they won't even know until October 2009 whether they will host the 2016 Summer Games or not.

Chicago 2016 is constantly tweaking all 28 potential Olympic sites. The so-called bid book, a 500-page detailed outline of the plans, is due to the International Olympic Committee by 12 February 2009.

A 'mini bid-book' is due 14 January according to Patrick Sandusky, a Chicago 2016 spokesman. 'We continue to look at ways to refine our plan, enhance it and make it better,' he said

Members of the Chicago boating community lambasted the proposed development plan for Chicago’s harbors Thursday during a presentation of the District Wide Harbor Master Plan. 'As a boater, I take exception to this,' said Frank Gagliano, civic chairman of the Chicago Yachting Association, whose members include Chicago area yacht and boat clubs. 'The whole thing is just not right.'

The proposal, which the Chicago Park District has not released, includes the addition of four new harbors and an estimated 2,500 spaces for boats, the district’s consultant said at the public meeting to discuss the proposed changes. He said the changes would create roughly 900 jobs and add nearly $50 million annually in park district revenue.

Gagliano said the plan puts too much emphasis on accommodating Olympic venues if Chicago wins the bid for the 2016 summer games. Under the proposal, the 87th Street Harbor would serve as a temporary relocation site for boaters displaced while the city reconfigured Monroe Harbor as an Olympic rowing course.

'Pulling out 800 or 900 boats for two weeks of rowing is ridiculous,' he told the estimated 40 people in attendance. 'I don’t know of a boater that doesn’t want the Olympics here, but what happens in any one Chicago harbor is going to affect all of them.'

Project director Brad Winick of JJR Associates, the consulting firm spearheading the project, said the proposal is in its final stages, but is not definitive. He did not provide copies of the plan. No park district representatives attended the forum.

Rob Rejman, director of lakefront construction for the park district, in a telephone interview declined to comment on boater dissatisfaction with the plan or any connection with the 2016 Olympics.

'This [development] came up before we heard anything about the Olympics,' he said, specifically noting proposals that would increase capacity at the Navy Pier and 31st Street harbors. He said JJR Associates is expected to release the final proposal in two or three weeks.

The debate continued in October at the Chicago Park District meeting, where Gagliano presented an alternate proposal developed by the yachting association.

'These boats are like our summer homes,' he said. 'Now you’re going to take my home away from me? I don’t want you to take my home.'