A Reno-Tahoe coalition has
begun building support for a possible 2018 Winter Olympics bid around Lake Tahoe,
the site of the 1960 games. A group of business leaders and politicians known
as the Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition on Tuesday won unanimous support from
the Placer County Board of Supervisors to pursue the plan. According to CBS 13,
on Thursday, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's office signaled he would consider supporting a bid if the U.S.
Olympic Committee decides to pursue the 2018 games. "The governor
is always supportive of anything that would be of potential economic boost to
California," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. "He is currently working to
bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles and would consider any other
events that would benefit California." Jim Vanden Heuvel, the
coalition's chief executive officer, estimates the region would need $1.6
billion in improvements to host the 2018 Games.
Bobsled and luge runs, a
ski jump and at least one indoor venue would have to be built, he said. Vanden Heuvel, however,
estimated about $1 billion of the cost could be funded from the sale of
broadcast rights and international sponsorships. Grants for road and
infrastructure improvements also could enhance the bid, he said. "I think we're stronger
in some areas than Salt Lake City was for the 2002 Winter Games,"
Vanden Heuvel said, noting that the region already has more than 35,000 hotel
rooms -- double, he said, what Salt Lake City had before the games. "There
are a lot of factors already in place." The U.S. Olympic Committee likely will decide within two
years if it wants to make a U.S. bid for the games. "We're all at the
mercy of the U.S. Olympic Committee until they make a decision," Vanden
Heuvel said. "For
now we're building regional support and beginning to lay out a vision for what
the legacy would be of having the games return here." While the Reno-Tahoe
Winter Games Coalition is working on regional support Amador County’s Chamber
of Commerce according to President Jack Mitchell is taking a “wait and see”
approach. “It would be a
tremendous opportunity as far as tourism and also probably a pretty hot topic
among folks who enjoy a peaceful setting having that many people coming from
the outside…and
if it does occur we will try to take advantage of the positive and minimize the
negative (impacts) of that kind of an event.”
