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This has happened to every modern Olympics venue. "This time it'll be different" is always wishful thinking. The amount of money that goes into building these s

by jpm_sd 4y ago

This has happened to every modern Olympics venue. "This time it'll be different" is always wishful thinking. The amount of money that goes into building these single-use venues continues to be completely bonkers.

jonp888 4y ago
Which single use venues are your referring to, exactly? All the venues built for the London Olympics are either still in active use, or were specifically designed to be temporary.
- jpm_sd 4y ago
  Every dedicated Olympics complex built in every host nation? Sure, they get a little bit of use afterward, but not nearly enough to justify the expense of construction.
  - jbjbjbjb 4y ago
    Isn’t the usual problem that most of these venues are just simply left to rot? That’s not the case for London. The problem this piece highlights is “just” that the redevelopment didn’t fulfil the promises on affordable housing. It’s a lovely place for those who can afford it.
    - JKCalhoun 4y ago
      The term "affordable housing" has begun to bother me lately. Another way to make affordable housing is to instead raise the wages of the bottom-earners?
tzs 4y ago
It didn't happen in Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympics. The Los Angeles area has so many pro sports teams with stadiums or arenas and so many colleges with stadiums or arenas that most of what they needed was already covered. They only had to build two new permanent venues and make some temporary adjustments to some of the existing ones. The new ones were a velodrome and a swim stadium, both paid for by corporate sponsors. The velodrome was built at a Cal State university paid for by 7-11, and the swim stadium was built at USC and paid for by McDonalds. Both of those venues were useful after the Olympics. The velodrome was the only Olympic standard velodrome in the US and remained in use until 2004 when it was replaced with a bigger facility nearby that included an Olympic velodrome plus facilities for some other sports. The swim stadium hosted many major swim events until 2013 when it was closed and renovated and resumes hosting major events. Los Angeles was also able to make its Olympic Village and athlete housing cheaply. They used undergraduate housing at USC and UCLA. Combined they have enough on-campus housing for something like 35000 undergraduates, most of which is empty over the summer. Los Angeles has so much normally going on when it comes to large events and tourism that an Olympics is not really a big deal there when it comes to infrastructure.
- gamblor956 4y ago
  To further your comment, all 3 times LA got the Olympics it was because nobody else wanted them...because they were getting too expensive. And the first two times, LA showed that an Olympics could be done profitably, by reusing existing facilities. For the 2028 Olympics, LA is following in the footsteps of the 1984 Olympics and reusing undergraduate housing and sports venues. LA has 5 soccer/track and field stadiums (Rose Bowl, Coliseum, Sofi, Dignity Health, and Banc of California), 5 Arenas (Forum, Staples, Galen Center, Pauley Pavilion, and the forthcoming Intuit Dome), 4 baseball stadiums (Dodgers, Angels, USC, and UCLA), 4 Olympic-size pools (Expo Park, USC, UCLA, and Loyola Marymount)...and these are just the major venues with Olympics-level seating. Also, the LA, Anaheim, and Long Beach convention centers are available for indoor early-round events that somehow can't fit into the aforementioned venues. The only venue being purpose-built just for the Games is the media center, which will be constructed by NBC at its own expense.

by jpm_sd 4y ago

jonp888 4y ago

Which single use venues are your referring to, exactly? All the venues built for the London Olympics are either still in active use, or were specifically designed to be temporary.

jpm_sd 4y ago
Every dedicated Olympics complex built in every host nation? Sure, they get a little bit of use afterward, but not nearly enough to justify the expense of construction.
- jbjbjbjb 4y ago
  Isn’t the usual problem that most of these venues are just simply left to rot? That’s not the case for London. The problem this piece highlights is “just” that the redevelopment didn’t fulfil the promises on affordable housing. It’s a lovely place for those who can afford it.
  - JKCalhoun 4y ago
    The term "affordable housing" has begun to bother me lately. Another way to make affordable housing is to instead raise the wages of the bottom-earners?

tzs 4y ago

It didn't happen in Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympics. The Los Angeles area has so many pro sports teams with stadiums or arenas and so many colleges with stadiums or arenas that most of what they needed was already covered. They only had to build two new permanent venues and make some temporary adjustments to some of the existing ones. The new ones were a velodrome and a swim stadium, both paid for by corporate sponsors. The velodrome was built at a Cal State university paid for by 7-11, and the swim stadium was built at USC and paid for by McDonalds. Both of those venues were useful after the Olympics. The velodrome was the only Olympic standard velodrome in the US and remained in use until 2004 when it was replaced with a bigger facility nearby that included an Olympic velodrome plus facilities for some other sports. The swim stadium hosted many major swim events until 2013 when it was closed and renovated and resumes hosting major events. Los Angeles was also able to make its Olympic Village and athlete housing cheaply. They used undergraduate housing at USC and UCLA. Combined they have enough on-campus housing for something like 35000 undergraduates, most of which is empty over the summer. Los Angeles has so much normally going on when it comes to large events and tourism that an Olympics is not really a big deal there when it comes to infrastructure.

gamblor956 4y ago
To further your comment, all 3 times LA got the Olympics it was because nobody else wanted them...because they were getting too expensive. And the first two times, LA showed that an Olympics could be done profitably, by reusing existing facilities. For the 2028 Olympics, LA is following in the footsteps of the 1984 Olympics and reusing undergraduate housing and sports venues. LA has 5 soccer/track and field stadiums (Rose Bowl, Coliseum, Sofi, Dignity Health, and Banc of California), 5 Arenas (Forum, Staples, Galen Center, Pauley Pavilion, and the forthcoming Intuit Dome), 4 baseball stadiums (Dodgers, Angels, USC, and UCLA), 4 Olympic-size pools (Expo Park, USC, UCLA, and Loyola Marymount)...and these are just the major venues with Olympics-level seating. Also, the LA, Anaheim, and Long Beach convention centers are available for indoor early-round events that somehow can't fit into the aforementioned venues. The only venue being purpose-built just for the Games is the media center, which will be constructed by NBC at its own expense.