Turanchik inspired by Ceremonies

Florida 2012's leader is in Sydney to check things out.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 16, 2000

SYDNEY, Australia -- He sat in the corner of Olympic Stadium, near the athletes entrance during the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night.

Another 30 yards and he could reach out and touch them. Another 12 years and he could reach out and welcome them.

Ed Turanchik was feeling inspired. The head of Florida 2012, which hopes to bring the Games to Central Florida, was watching the world parade before his eyes and wishing you could be next to him to appreciate it.

"It is an absolutely unbelievable experience," Turanchik said during the parade of nations. "If people could just feel the buzz, the energy in this stadium, they would go to great lengths to make sure we get the Games.

"It is an incomparable feeling. It is global humanity, and there's nothing like it in the rest of the world."

Turanchik is in Sydney to get a look at how Australia's Olympic effort is faring but also to rub elbows with the International Olympic Committee folk.

The IOC did not want to endure campaigning from cities interested in staging the 2012 Games -- particularly because the IOC still is deciding on the 2008 host -- so Turanchik and his crew are keeping a low profile.

"It would be so inappropriate for us to be talking about 2012 right now," he said. "The U.S. has to work out a lot of different issues, and the people with the International Olympic Committee are still focused on 2008. We're just here making friends and checking things out for down the road."

Among the things Florida 2012 is looking at is Australia's transportation plan. Despite an impressive train system, Sydney has had some traffic problems, though not on the scale of those that plagued Atlanta in 1996. With Florida 2012's bid proposing venues from St. Petersburg to Orlando, a mass transit system is a must.

"There is no question we have to address the transportation issue. We have to address it for ourselves, regardless of the Olympics," Turanchik said. "If we do not have an adequate transportation system, it's going to be difficult for us in making a bid."

Before addressing transportation, Florida 2012 needs to unveil its plan for an Olympic stadium. The plan was scheduled to be released in August, but Turanchik now anticipates a late October announcement.

He said Florida 2012's stadium plan is similar to Sydney's stadium, which held an Olympic record 110,000 spectators. Turanchik said his proposed stadium, which would be built in Tampa, also would seat around 110,000 for the Olympics but would be scaled back to 50,000 for later use, possibly as a football stadium for the University of South Florida.

The Tampa Bay area has little that matches the wonder of the Sydney Opera House or Darling Harbour, but Turanchik said Florida 2012's bid would be unique in its own right.

"It's a different kind of city, but we absolutely are capable of providing the same kind of atmosphere," he said. "I just hope we can do everything they did in Sydney. They have put on a wonderful show. If we have the chance to do the same, people in Florida will love it."

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