Chicago 2016 Summer Games bid available online
The forecast calls for a cold and rainy weekend, so if you're looking for something to snuggle up with on Valentine's Day, the Chicago 2016 committee has released the massive bid book that it submitted on Thursday to the IOC.
The document runs to nearly 600 pages, answers 227 "major questions" posed by the IOC and is available online in English and French.
The Chicago committee estimates the Games budget at $3.3 billion -- and projects revenue of $3.8 billion. The committee also talks of an additional $500 million to be secured in order to "insulate taxpayers" from sticker shock, should Chicago win its bid and then face significant cost-overruns.
Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid , the other would-be hosts, also submitted bid books to the IOC by Thursday's midnight deadline.
Chicago 2016 Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick G. Ryan on Friday described the three-volume Q&A as "a significant milestone in the bid process for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
The bid book describes a Summer Games that would be competed largely in the heart of the Windy City, starting with a lakeside Olympic Village that would be a short walk from most of the venues and training sites.
The design also is described as consumer-friendly in that Olympic fans would be get some exercise by shopping, dining and visiting Chicago's other attractions.
Ryan described the bid as "a financially responsible budget that relies on private funds with a substantial level of financial contingencies to protect against revenue shortfalls or cost increases."
The bid promises that at least half of the competition tickets would be priced below $50 and that the average cost of tickets will be about $71.
-- Greg Johnson
Illustration: An artist's rendering of the Chicago waterfront during the 2016 Summer Games. Credit: Chicago 2016
