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Post-Olympic Abandonment

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Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#51

Post by woliveirajr »

emondi wrote: post #47
cbernini wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not exactly. It wasn't the same stadium at all. The original Maracanã received something around 1.2 bi BRL (387.55 mi USD if we consider today's rate) in order to receive the Olympic games. Sergio Cabral' (former RJ governor) prision was motivated (among other things) because of that

So is it not going to be used again?

Probably it will. Problem is the "owner" (Odebrecht and EBX, both companies involved in many issues in the Lava-Jato investigation) don't have money to fix it, nor are potential "clients" (soccer teams) willing to contribute to fix it or to pay the amounts that are being charged to use it.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#52

Post by sizzzzlerz »

saalweachter wrote: post #36

Would it negatively impact the Olympics if we stopped rotating them at this point? I mean, besides the IOC missing out on the opportunity compete with FIFA on graft? Let's just locate the Olympics in a permanent facility -- Greece, if they'll have them, for tradition. I think between "not rebuilding everything from scratch every four years" and the expectation of recurring events, the single host country could both r…

So Greece, for example, becomes responsible for the maintenance and updates to the facilities, which they obviously can't afford now? Having a single host country works only if all the participating countries chip in annually according to their GNP or some other measure of their financial worth. How, then, is that enforced? You can always exclude those countries who are in arrears but that only harms the athletes. For example, losing the Kenyan runners from the Olympics because their country won't or can't pay would be a travesty and cheapen the events. Either that or the world class athletes would relocate to a wealthy nation, sending yet another blow to their home country.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#53

Post by braythwayt »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #45

It seems to me that the countries that maintained their Olympic facilities (England, Australia, US, Norway, Germany, China) all tilt to the wealthier end of the spectrum. Conversely, the poorer ones, Brazil and Greece, really couldn't afford hosting the games in the first place, let alone maintaining the venues afterwards. These days, its the wealthier countries that turn down the offer to host because of the costs w…

This rings true with me, and I’ll highlight your phrase "corrupt and bankrupt governments.”

I’d bet that the amount of waste and abandonment is in inverse proportion to the democracy score of the host country. The more democratic the country, the more likely they are to either reject the Olympic outright, or manage the investment effectively.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#54

Post by timr »

grabcocque wrote: post #48

This is an entirely unfair representation of the current state of Olympic venues in London. The Olympic stadium is used by West Ham Football Club every week for league and championship football. The Olympic village has been converted into state of the art affordable housing set in a gorgeous new green space. The swimming and diving and velodrome facilities are state of the art, oversubscribed, and at the forefront of…

The photos, and most of the text, are about venues other than London. London is called out as an example of good olympic development, not bad.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#55

Post by SnacksOnAPlane »

StevePerkins wrote: post #21
lhopki01 wrote: post #4

There are many articles about abandoned Olympic venues but I've never seen one about successful former Olympic venues. I'd like to see what happened to all the venues in London and Beijing. From my bit of knowledge a lot of the London ones were temporary or have been successfully transitioned.

Atlanta has always felt snubbed by hostility from the IOC, who didn't like the level of private corporate sponsorship used to fund the 1996 Games (nevermind that two decades later, it would be considered modestly quaint today). However, it was overwhelmingly a successful Games. It created a lasted economic boom, and much of the construction saw continued use or was repurposed afterward. Today, Atlanta is not really r…

Damn straight.

The aquatic center is still in use at GA Tech. And Tech also got a lot of new housing from the Olympic Village, and a nice new student center.

The Olympic Stadium turned into Turner Field, which will now be a stadium for GA State University.

I believe the velodrome is still in use, although not totally sure about that.

Basically, Atlanta planned very well for the post-Olympic legacy. And I think we threw a pretty good Olympics, all in all. Yeah, there was lots of advertising, but because of it, the city didn't go into tremendous debt.

Plus our opening ceremonies were the world debut of wacky waving inflatable arms guy, so that's gotta count for something.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#56

Post by timr »

bigmanwalter wrote: post #38
lhopki01 wrote: post #4

There are many articles about abandoned Olympic venues but I've never seen one about successful former Olympic venues. I'd like to see what happened to all the venues in London and Beijing. From my bit of knowledge a lot of the London ones were temporary or have been successfully transitioned.

The Beijing Olympic swimming pool is now a water park!

A quarter of it is. The other pools are still being used for a variety of things, including as a big conference center (APEC was held there in 2015).

They're going to re-purpose the whole thing for the winter Olympics. I think it's supposed to become the curling venue.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#57

Post by jads »

grabcocque wrote: post #48

This is an entirely unfair representation of the current state of Olympic venues in London. The Olympic stadium is used by West Ham Football Club every week for league and championship football. The Olympic village has been converted into state of the art affordable housing set in a gorgeous new green space. The swimming and diving and velodrome facilities are state of the art, oversubscribed, and at the forefront of…

I think you may have skimmed the article a bit too quick:

>London is novel among recent Olympic hosts in that its plan for the Olympics was focused primarily on what would happen after the games.

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#58

Post by [deleted] »

timr wrote: post #54
grabcocque wrote: post #48

This is an entirely unfair representation of the current state of Olympic venues in London. The Olympic stadium is used by West Ham Football Club every week for league and championship football. The Olympic village has been converted into state of the art affordable housing set in a gorgeous new green space. The swimming and diving and velodrome facilities are state of the art, oversubscribed, and at the forefront of…

The photos, and most of the text, are about venues other than London. London is called out as an example of good olympic development, not bad.

[deleted]

Re: Post-Olympic Abandonment

#59

Post by untog »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #52
saalweachter wrote: post #36

Would it negatively impact the Olympics if we stopped rotating them at this point? I mean, besides the IOC missing out on the opportunity compete with FIFA on graft? Let's just locate the Olympics in a permanent facility -- Greece, if they'll have them, for tradition. I think between "not rebuilding everything from scratch every four years" and the expectation of recurring events, the single host country could both r…

So Greece, for example, becomes responsible for the maintenance and updates to the facilities, which they obviously can't afford now? Having a single host country works only if all the participating countries chip in annually according to their GNP or some other measure of their financial worth. How, then, is that enforced? You can always exclude those countries who are in arrears but that only harms the athletes. Fo…

I'd be interested to know how the financial benefit of hosting the Olympics (tourism, etc) would compare to upkeep of permanent facilities. In theory the crowds coming to town every 4 years would be a big economic boost, though perhaps not enough of one.
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