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Can an Olympics come to Boston? And where would the venues be?
By patssoxfan on Mon, 02/27/2006 - 1:18am
With the Olympics nearing an end in Torino one has to wonder. Could an Olympics be feasible in Boston. And which venues/locations would be best for the various sports in an Olympic games both for the Summer and Winter Olympics?
Where do you think the venues for various events be for summer and winter olympics if Boston were the host city?
Would the current airports of the region (MHT, PVD, and BOS) and the transit network of the area be able to handle the volume of fans efficiently for an entire 2 week period of the Olympic games?
Where would the athletes village be?
Where would the Olympic Stadium Be?
Woud there have to be a new stadium built in Boston for the Olympic Stadium? Perhaps Assembly Square area?
If you were in charge of promoting Boston for an Olympics, which would you choose. The Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics....what venues would you choose and where for each sport? And why? What things would you promote boston with....tourism wise?
Finally, what themes would you include in a Boston Opening and Closing ceremonies....
Could involve anything from The birthplace of America
to the people of new England, to wildlife of new england as symbols....to famous sports legends and famous people of the area who would be involved in the ceremonies...to the Boston Pops....What would your opening and closing ceremonies here consist of?
I'd liek to hear people's views on the olympics in Boston both Summer and Winter, How it would be done, and if you feel Boston should be making more of a pitch for the games in the coming years.
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Comments
Too far from the mountains
Boston is not close enough to the mountains to be a Winter Olympics host city. Better choices might be Concord NH, Hanover NH, or Burlington VT.
No. Stop. No.
No.
No.
And, no.
it could happen
The mountains are far away, but I look at that as an opportunity for a solution to an existing problem rather than a roadblock. If the mountains of New Hampshire are two hours away, wouldn't that be just the opportunity to finally do high-speed rail right in the Northeast, not just to Manchester and Concord, but also to finally make a modern rail line to New York to bring people in from all over. The weather, to me, still would be a problem even in northern New England (and you'd have to bill the games as being hosted by New England, 'cause calling it just Boston would be somewhat disingenuous.). If Menino really wanted to have a vision, then that would be one heck of an idea.
Summer Olympics
A Summer Olympics might have a better chance. The athletes and the venues could almost all be housed and held at the universities around the city. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, the city put together proposals with just that idea for the 2012 Summer Olympics (track & field at Harvard Stadium, Olympic swimming at B.U., the marathon paralleling the Boston Marathon route, etc). The plan didn't get very far.
I think you're forgetting a few things...
I think Boston lends itself more to a winter Olympics. In "Torino" this year, the skiing and snow boarding venues were over a hour and a half away from the city itself. As a matter of fact, they kept mentioning how those athletes had a completely different Olympics experience from those whose events took place in and around Torino proper.
As for the transportation issues, these could be easily solved by dedicated shuttles. Typically the Olympics, especially the winter Olympics, are held in much smaller cities and towns that are "mountain" towns - Lake Placid, Albertville, Lilliehamer, Nagano, Salt Lake. Torino was one of the biggest industrialized cities ever to host a winter Olympics, even though more than half of their events took place someplace else besides Torino.
As for the thought that weather could be a problem, how do you figure that? Several times during the Torino games the city and surrounding mountains were blanketed in snow - it was the Alps, for goodness sakes. One night over three feet of snow fell on the downhill skiing venues, and that didn't stop them. They had course architects out all night grooming the course, and snow removal apparatus working 24/7. They also remarked how in the mountains morning events took place under temperatures in the single digits and teens, while in the afternoon they sky rocketed to temperatures of over 40 degrees. Sounds like New England to me.
I do like the suggestion of Burlington VT - they could show the world a good time and there is plenty of room in and around the area to build the necessary infrastructures.
The reality is, with both Atlanta and Salt Lake City having hosted games in the relatively recent past, the US probably won't be awarded another Olympics for quite a while.