Birmingham mayor organizes a committee for the bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games
BIRMINGHAM — The world stage is set in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics to open in less than a month with more than 1.5 million, including nearly 11,000 athletes, to converge on the Chinese capital for the two weeks of competition.
Mayor Larry P. Langford wants the stage in Birmingham in 12 years, announcing he is organizing a committee to put together a bid for Birmingham to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
Langford said last week during a press conference, Birmingham has everything it needs to host the Olympics; however, much stands in the way of Langford, and most say he will have to pull more than a rabbit out of his Magic City hat if he is to pull this off.
The International Olympics Committee, based in Switzerland, organizes the summer and winter Olympics, in addition to choosing the host city.
The IOC is comprised of 15 members from countries all over the world. Members are elected to serve a term of eight years.
The last American city to host the Summer Olympics was Atlanta in 1996; Chicago hopes to beat Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo for the right to host the 2016 Games, but if it fails, it will have been 24 years since the summer Games were held in the United States.
Cities are already lining up to cast bids for the 2020 games, and Birmingham is one of five metropolitan areas in the United States exploring a possible bid: Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Philadelphia are all expected to formally enter the competition to be the American candidate city.
Philadelphia is the only city of the five that has set up an official committee, the first step, to explore their Olympic proposal.
With larger, more notable cities in the race pool with Birmingham, many ask how the city will fair.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Langford said referring to the competition by other cities.
If nominated as the American city, Birmingham would be the smallest metropolitan area ever to go that far in the selection process. The population of the city was 229,000, according to a 2006 estimate, down from 242,800 at the time of the 2000 census.
Greater Birmingham, which encompasses the surrounding cities of Hoover, Cullman and Trussville, is home to roughly 1.1 million.
The population, although not a nail in the proverbial coffin, can raise doubts, especially when it comes to matters of security.
If a city cannot show the IOC it has the capability and manpower to keep athletes, spectators and the city safe, it is usually dropped from competition.
When the Olympics are held in the United States, the city and state are relied upon to provide most security measures. The federal government will intervene when asked or prompted.
Birmingham officials admit security and recruitment of forces would have to be stepped up for a potential bid to be taken seriously.
“(Birmingham) has a reputation of being one of the most dangerous cities in the country,” said Trisha Bolton of the Alabama Department of Justice. “The IOC is not going to listen to Birmingham unless we can prove we are doing something to try and combat the growing rate of homicides and other crimes.”
One way to combat crime is with money: more money means more officers on the streets, but Birmingham is in debt, as is the county.
The Olympics are not cheap. With Jefferson County already in an estimated debt of $3.9 billion, some worry whether Birmingham could sustain an Olympic-size hit to the economy.
Cities rarely make a profit after hosting the Games, instead, often losing millions, if not billions of dollars in less than two weeks.
An estimated $12 billion was drained from the Greek economy in 2004 for the Games in Athens.
China has budgeted $23 billion for this year, with Beijing picking up $9 billion of the tab.
Atlanta was the last summer city to make a profit, and the profit came at a high public relations crisis for the city. Many argued Atlanta sold out by making the Games too commercialized, thus stripping them of their true intention.
“It is no secret that Birmingham and Alabama have had financial troubles in the past and this year, and the years to come are no exception,” said Wayne Douglas, associate professor of economics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Take this year, the City Council can’t even pass a budget.”
The mayor’s office has proposed a $428.9 million budget for the 2009 fiscal year. Birmingham still does not have an operating budget for the 2009 fiscal year, which began last Tuesday, after the City Council failed to approve its version of the budget, in contrast with Langford’s.
The application alone to apply to be a host city is $500,000.
Jefferson County Commissioner Bettye Fine Collins could not be reached for comment, but did respond in an e-mail to say, “If Mayor Langford is serious about this bid, which he seems to be, the Commission will be more than cooperative to try and make the Olympics come to Birmingham.”
An Olympic choice would no doubt bring millions to Alabama and the Birmingham metropolitan area that would pump much needed money into the economy, but at costs.
The city is served by four federal interstates, with one more under construction. Interstate 20 runs east and west, 65 and 59 flow north and south, and 459 is the bypass loop around Birmingham.
The long anticipated “Corridor X,” which will connect Birmingham and Memphis, is expected to be completed in 2010 and will be Interstate 22. All interstates in and around the city are no more than six lanes at their widest.
“As it stands now, Birmingham’s freeways are not built to withstand a sudden influx of half a million more cars on the road,” said Clay Pullman of the Alabama Department of Transportation. “We just started to widen (Interstate) 65, and of course Corridor X is still being worked on, but other than that, our transportation funds are tight. We have to worry about maintaining the roads we have and worry about building new ones later.”
However, host cities are usually chosen seven to nine years before the Games. Planning this far in advance gives the city a lead, Langford said.
“This is the advantage of a 12-year planning period,” Langford said.
For Birminghamians, the planning begins now.
Birmingham officials will be tuning in and taking notes during the Beijing Games, which begin in 29 days.
