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Nashville 2024 Summer Olympics

FromParkAveToTN

By FromParkAveToTN
in Nashville

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Rocky@theTop Unincorporated Area

Rocky@theTop

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Maybe this is what it would take to get rid of the scrap metal next to the Titan's stadium. I'm all for it.

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130220/NEWS/302210021/Nashville-contacted-about-2024-Summer-Olympics-bid-

I'm pretty sure that area is being reserved for upscale boutiques/stores such as Armani, Fendi or anything store which ends with the letter "I". 

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UTgrad09 Town

UTgrad09

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Truthfully, I don't really want the Olympics...and I don't really think we are nearly big enough to handle one...

But just to dream a bit and explore what could be done here over the next 11 years...

-I like the idea of using this as an opportunity to develop the scrapyard site. That could make for a nice "Olympic village" development, that could be later utilized as high density housing. In fact, it could really transform the entire East Bank. We would assume that the use of the scrapyard would mean a green light for finishing the riverfront greenway, and could really make a nice park-like atmosphere.

-We already have a number of venues in place. LP Field could naturally serve as a soccer stadium. Bridgestone Arena would be able to handle the bigger indoor events such as basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball. The Municipal Auditorium could be upgraded to handle some of the smaller indoor events like judo and perhaps wrestling, table tennis, and others. The Steeplechase would be the obvious site for equestrian sports. This would be a big opportunity to upgrade the Sportsplex with new swimming and tennis facilities (perhaps consider a complete rebuild, as the current land area is pretty adequate, but not well used). For events like track and field, I think it would be good to partner with Vanderbilt and perhaps use some of their facilities...or if the public/private partnership is frowned on, TSU could be an option, and it would pay homage to the great track program that produced a number of US Olympians. New facilities (likely temporary structures) would be required for events like indoor cycling. If baseball is part of the games at that point, that would be a great time to build a new minor league ballpark for the Sounds (assuming they're still here). Rowing and some of the water events could be held at J Percy Priest. BMX would require a temporary facility. Canoeing/whitewater would either require a manmade facility (eh) or be done somewhere off site (The Ocoee or Obed would work).

-I think we're well short of the desired hotel capacity to host the games. The only figure I could find (and without a specific reference) was in a NYT article that put the number at 45,000. Davidson County has ~25,000 rooms, plus there are several thousand in the burbs. I saw somewhere that listed about 4,000 in Williamson County, which has a higher number for a suburban county. I couldn't find the total metro figure, but let's go with 35,000 (that would mean about 6,000 total rooms in the remaining counties, which I think is a slightly conservative number). That still leaves us with about 10,000 short. Naturally, over the course of a decade...and with a growing city and new convention center, that number will rise. But I think what we would need to bridge the gap is probably 8-10,000 "temporary" hotels that can be converted to apartments/condos afterward (and somewhat slowly, so it doesn't absolutely flood the market). We could scatter these around the core areas...the east bank, SoBro, Midtown, and North Capitol. Not only would this provide future dense housing for our core, but for the Olympics, it would keep the majority of our visitors close to the action, minimizing the need for travel on our interstates and surface streets. Sidenote: perhaps advertising rooms that visitors are staying in as "for sale" could potentially net some investment from people who like the city and are either looking to move, looking for a second home, or are looking for a future investment.

-Along with the extra housing and venues, we would certainly need infrastructure improvements. Not only would it be wise to implement multiple mass transit lines in the inner city (at least 2 more BRT lines and perhaps one light rail or streetcar line), but commuter rail is an absolute must. With thousands of extra people traveling in town, there needs to be a way to get them there without swamping our roadways.

While the cost would be enormous for all of these improvements, it would completely transform the city. Certain benefits may not have immediate effectiveness or impact, but in a sense, we would grow into them. The Olympics is a short term event, so it's likely that the activity level before and after would be much less on the transit infrastructure, and it would take a while to absorb the number of residential/hotel units built...but it would be there to grow into.




Oh, and for Park Ave, perhaps high end retailers like Armani and Fendi could set up temp locations for the Olympics, then decide to stay after their show of overwhelming popularity.









Of course, none of this will come to be...but it's nice to dream.

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smeagolsfree Gigalopolis

smeagolsfree

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The biggest problem with this is mass transit. We do not have a viable mass transit system for the thousands that would arrive for the game. Traffic would be an absolute nightmare.

 

I do agree that if it were to ever happen, and that would be about a glaciers chance in hell, that the East bank would be the perfect location. I had the same thought when I heard about the letter and that would be a great way to get the entire area cleaned up.

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SoundScan Hamlet

SoundScan

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Posted

Sorry, not gonna happen. Cost of the last several Olympic Games:

 

London - $14.46 billion

Beijing - $40 billion

Athens - $15 billion

Sydney - $6.6 billion

 

Atlanta hosted the 1996 Games on the cheap ($1.8 billion) and the IOC will never allow that to happen again. The new bar was set by Sydney, and then raised again by Beijing. Nashville doesn't have ANY of the infrastructure required to host an event of this size. It would all have to be built from scratch.

 

Maybe in 40 years.

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Hey_Hey Burg

Hey_Hey

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It's getting to the point now that I don't think the Olympics are worth the expense. The 40-50 billion that is being spent on upcoming games could pay for half of the nationwide high speed rail network that is proposed. In terms of long term economic impact why would we choose the Olympics?

I get the feeling that major worldwide events like the Olympics and the Workd Cup are shifting to less developed countries (South Africa, Brazil, Russia, China, etc) as a way of showcasing the rapid development and future promise. In the past it seems like it went to places that were already established.....London, LA, Sydney, Barcelona.

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SoundScan Hamlet

SoundScan

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Posted

Not to mention the 50 billion Russia is spending on the 2014 Winter Olympics.

 

For $50 billion you could literally buy a big slab of land on the outskirts of Williamson county and rebuild the entire city of Nashville from scratch. In fact, it would probably be cheaper to completely rebuild the city with advanced infrastructure than to upgrade what we already have to the same level.

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MLBrumby Metropolis

MLBrumby

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LOL... as if Uncle Sugar has any money!   But even if they did, and they were begging a city to host the Olympics with a $10 billion handout, you'd better believe that Nashville's idiot representative Cooper would refuse the offer.  I don't understand how that man keeps getting elected by the good citizens of the 5th District.  [scratching head]

 

I recall the Tennessean article that came out a few years ago on the subject of the proposed federal courthouse, and why it had not been funded.  Even with a Democratic-led House (from 2007-2011) and tens of billions in stimulus, Cooper said, "I don't know".

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dmillsphoto Town

dmillsphoto

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LOL... as if Uncle Sugar has any money!   But even if they did, and they were begging a city to host the Olympics with a $10 billion handout, you'd better believe that Nashville's idiot representative Cooper would refuse the offer.  I don't understand how that man keeps getting elected by the good citizens of the 5th District.  [scratching head]

 

I recall the Tennessean article that came out a few years ago on the subject of the proposed federal courthouse, and why it had not been funded.  Even with a Democratic-led House (from 2007-2011) and tens of billions in stimulus, Cooper said, "I don't know".

 

I don't know how most of the people who are electable keep getting elected.

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volsfanwill Burg

volsfanwill

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Posted

I think that Nashville could 100% host the Olympics.  However, not by 2024, maybe in the late 2030's or early 2040's.  There are many reasons why Nashville will not be ready by 2024.  

1. transit.  talked about at length on this site, Nashville needs a comprehensive RAPID transit system, meaning trains, in multiple directions.  (I believe BRT is a good starter)

2. Transit....see 1.

3.  Redevelopment of industrial areas near downtown.  I do not mean move all industry from the area, I mean the ugly ones. the east bank is begging for redevelopment.

4. We have a better chance of getting an MLB team.  Which in turn would help getting the Olympics. Build that stadium on the thermal plant site, capacity around 36,000.

5. TRANSIT

6. Facilities are really not a problem, few temporary sites would be needed but most of those would not be expensive and the rest could use existing facilities.

 

I am excited that Nashville is even on the list to submit a proposal, however, we are a long way from really being ready.

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timmay143 Burg

timmay143

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Posted

8-10 TRANSIT!



I think that Nashville could 100% host the Olympics.  However, not by 2024, maybe in the late 2030's or early 2040's.  There are many reasons why Nashville will not be ready by 2024.  

1. transit.  talked about at length on this site, Nashville needs a comprehensive RAPID transit system, meaning trains, in multiple directions.  (I believe BRT is a good starter)

2. Transit....see 1.

3.  Redevelopment of industrial areas near downtown.  I do not mean move all industry from the area, I mean the ugly ones. the east bank is begging for redevelopment.

4. We have a better chance of getting an MLB team.  Which in turn would help getting the Olympics. Build that stadium on the thermal plant site, capacity around 36,000.

5. TRANSIT

6. Facilities are really not a problem, few temporary sites would be needed but most of those would not be expensive and the rest could use existing facilities.

 

I am excited that Nashville is even on the list to submit a proposal, however, we are a long way from really being ready.

Nice first post and welcome to UP Nashville!

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timmay143 Burg

timmay143

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I don't know how most of the people who are electable keep getting elected.

I think some of it goes like this:

 

Voter: "Hmmm, I don't know anything about either candidate, but I do recognize this name, so" *push button* ------- Jim Cooper  :dontknow:

 

I know I did that a few times when I actually voted in my "younger" days.  :(

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BrandonTO416 Burg

BrandonTO416

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Nashville isn't a market that can absorb the summer Olympics right now, it could theoretically host the winter Olympics if it were a winter weather climate with larger mountains (at least from a financial standpoint).

 

Nashville has some of the infrastructure to host the Olympics: Titans Stadium and the Arena. It has almost the amount of hotel rooms, so it could feasibly be beefed up in several years time. But since the Olympics in Atlanta were by some measures a failure, and with the amount of debt other Olympics have incurred, I wouldn't think the investment would pay off. I hear Montreal just finished paying off the 1976 Olympics debt servicing in the past 5 years... That kind of indebtedness isn't worth it. Although Montreal did do a great job at renewing the Olympic spirit after the massacre in Munich 4 years before.

 

One thing Nashville does have in its cards is international fame. The city is already known in Europe, Australia, even parts of Asia (Japanese culture has some country fans). So if the region is interested in planting down $10 billion to build an Olympic village, infrastructure, and more stadiums/hotels etc. then go for it.

 

But on the other side of the token, Greece practically assisted its bankruptcy by spending so lavishly to dig new subways and stuff for the 2004 Olympics. Montreal also has become second fiddle to Toronto in Canada over the past 40 years. So "success" is in the eye of the beholder. Olympics seem to be as much of a drain as a boost to economic development.

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