Hillsborough: Group set to unwrap Olympic plan

It's to be a Tampa Bay area with wider roads, fast trains moving thousands of people from city to city and spiffy new sports venues -- lots of spiffy new sports venues.

Plans forthe biggest and most expensive of those venues will be unveiled Wednesday, when the private group trying to bring the Olympics to Florida in 2012 plans to spill the beans on its most closely guarded secret: where an Olympic stadium would be built.

Ed Turanchik, Florida 2012's president, would not confirm St. Petersburg Times reports that the stadium would replace Central Park Village, a crumbling public housing complex near downtown.

Jerome Ryans, executive director of the Tampa Housing Authority, met with Turanchik early last week. He said having a stadium replace Central Park Village could be a"win-win situation for everybody" if all 480 units in the complex are replaced elsewhere in the city.

Turanchik has suggested that Central Park residents would be moved to a better place -- if the stadium were built there. He would not say if other public housing complexes would be torn down or refurbished for other Olympic uses.

Central Park Village as a stadium site fits Florida 2012's plans in several ways. It would put the most important Olympic venue close to the Port of Tampa, where cruise ships would serve as housing for some spectators. It's close to interstates 275 and 4. And it would allow Florida 2012 to say it is helping to improve housing for the poor, a strong selling point with Olympic officials who like the idea of the games spurring beneficial changes in the city that hosts them.

Central Park residents, however, have not been asked what they think of having a stadium replace their complex. That, however, is characteristic of how Florida 2012 has put together its Olympic bid.

The group's grand design for Tampa Bay has been created far from the bright lights of public meetings. Even Tampa Mayor Dick Greco has refused to disclose details about the stadium after getting briefed by Florida 2012.

Turanchik, who resigned fromthe Hillsborough County Commission to lead Florida 2012, said the stadium would cost at least $250-million and accommodate 110,000 spectators, but could later be downsized to seat as few as 42,000.

How much the stadium is downsized depends on how the University of South Florida plans to use it, Turanchik said. Florida 2012 would like to have USF's football team use the stadium.

The Bulls play at Raymond James Stadium, but university officials have expressed interest in having their own stadium for the growing football program.

Florida 2012 hired HOK Sports, one of the leading stadium designers in the country, to make renderings of the proposed Olympic stadium.

Besides unveiling its stadium plans, Florida 2012 also will announce where it would build an Olympic village.

Florida 2012 has already said two villages would be built. One would be constructed in Orlando to serve athletes who compete in events there. Another would be built in Tampa and would be large enough to house all athletes, including those who compete in Orlando area events.

A third announcement that Florida 2012 says it will make Wednesday concerns its plan to move people from place to place during the games.

To demonstrate how its Olympic ideas would remake Tampa Bay, Florida 2012 plans to show off a model of downtown Tampa that incorporates changes the group would like to see.

Judging from Florida 2012's previous announcements, its plan is wide-ranging -- and expensive.

Building or renovating existing sports venues to host Olympic events would cost at least $370-million, early estimates show.

The estimates, still being finalized as Florida 2012 puts the finishing touches on the bid it must submit to the United States Olympic Committee by Dec. 15, do not include costs of planned road and rail construction, which would add millions.

Exactly who would pay for all of this is difficult to say. Turanchik has said the Olympics would merely speed up road and rail system construction the area needs anyway.

Other facilities that would be used by the public after the games also could be paid for with public money, Turanchik said. Olympic revenue -- money from the sale of television broadcast rights, tickets and sponsorships -- will cover the bulk of the costs, he said.

Those costs are steep.

Sydney spent $3.3-billion hosting this year's Olympics, with taxpayers covering more than a third. Atlanta spent at least $2-billion in private and public dollars to host the 1996 Olympics.

Jose Rodriguez, director of sports competition during the Atlanta Olympics who is now Florida 2012's managing director, said Tampa Bay has advantages over those cities.

Many sports venues already exist, Rodriguez said, reducing the need to build more. The area has available land for other venues, and labor costs are low, he said.

Florida 2012's bid attempts to take advantage of those factors. The games would be held in six parts of Florida, using existing venues in most of those places.

The bid calls for soccer to be played in Pro Player Stadium in Miami, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Badminton, judo, wrestling and table tennis would take place at the Orange County Convention Center. Beach volleyball and yachting would take place in Clearwater. Basketball and gymnastics would be held in St. Petersburg.

That the games would be spread out over such a large geographical area won't harm Florida 2012's chances, Rodriguez said.

Florida's bid is one of eight to be submitted to the USOC, which will determine the one U.S. city that enters the international competition to host the games. The USOC will make that choice in 2002 with the International Olympic Committee making the final decision three years later.

Spreading the events out will actually help in that competition, Florida 2012 officials believe.

"It makes it easier to have a better organized games," he said. "Not all spectators and everything will have to go in one place."

Florida 2012 estimates that at least 1-million spectators would come to Florida for the games, and it plans to have 158,000 rooms in Central Florida available for them.

Moving those people would be a Herculean task that Florida 2012 thinks will be made easier with already planned road improvements to I-275 and I-4 and the construction of a rail system.

Before last month's elections, Turanchik said he opposed a constitutional amendment forcing the state to start build a high-speed rail system by 2003.

Turanchik worried that supporting the amendment and then having it be defeated would be a public relations blow.

But voters surprised political observers by approving the amendment, and Florida 2012 quickly embraced it, issuing a press release saying it "gave a big boost" to the Olympic efforts.

"It is an unequivocal statement by Floridians that they want a balanced transportation system," said Florida 2012 Chairman John Sykes.

But do voters want the Olympics?

For all of the corporate support the group has gotten, that remains an open question.

Florida 2012 is aggressively stepping up its quest for public support for the bid. The group has a Florida 2012 Night planned for Dec. 2 during a Tampa Bay Lightning game, and a Florida 2012 Day scheduled the next day when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play.

Those events will be followed by a "bid tour" that will take Florida 2012 officials across the state. The tour includes stops in Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Orlando and places in the immediate bay area. It is scheduled to end with a stop in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Dec. 15, when Florida 2012 will turn the bid over to the USOC.

In putting the bid together, Florida 2012 has carefully scripted the release of details of its plans. The group meets in private and, despite the potential demand for public support, there's been no official public comment onthe bid.

Two dozen of the 32 venues that would be used if the Olympics were held in Florida are in the Tampa Bay area. The Olympic stadium and the main Olympic village would be in Tampa.

Still, Florida 2012 is not required to get any local approval before submitting its bid on Dec. 15. If the USOC and the IOC award the games to Florida, the bid would serve as the blueprint for how that should be accomplished.

Turanchik said Florida 2012 plans to make a presentation to the Tampa City Council on Thursday, but he was careful to say the meeting is really just to inform the city about the bid.

"We're not asking anything from the council," Turanchik said. "We aren't going to rush anybody into anything. We're not asking for anything."

Three years ago, Greco signed a USOC document giving local Olympic supporters permission to put the bid together.

That, USOC officials said, is enough.

Florida 2012 has taken it from there.

"The bid is so strong in so many categories," Turanchik said. "We have very big, very good venues that can showcase each individual sport. The transportation element of the bid is very strong now."

The bid's strongest appeal is Florida itself, Turanchik said.

"It's a very popular destination," he said. "It's the most popular family destination in the entire world."

RELATED SITES

The official Florida 2012 homepage

PREVIOUS FLORIDA 2012 COVERAGE:

Olympic Complex could rise near Lithia

Beach may host Olympic events

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Olympics might aid public housing

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