In a July 28 Washington Post op-ed, School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short argued that a permanent island location should be established to host the Summer Olympic Games. He wrote that with the current hefty price tag and with thousands of residents being displaced by construction in host cities each time, holding the games in the same place every four years would save money and benefit residents.
“Instead of investing billions of dollars for a new city every four years, we could create a permanent Olympics city, with facilities and athlete housing. Though any city could take this one, I’d prefer a small island with few inhabitants. This way, we’d avoid the disruption and social dislocation and eliminate the often-massive costs to citizens in the host cities,” he wrote, adding it would also benefit athletes who could train there for years and it could serve as an “international convention center.”
Short noted that the bill for creating the permanent host site should be paid by the International Olympic Committee (IOC): “The IOC which profits off the games, should facilitate and fund this project. The initial cost of $100 billion could be offset against bonds or loans on the basis of future media revenues. As one of the biggest events on the planet, it would not be difficult to generate funds to cover the initial construction and operating costs.”
The op-ed led to several broadcast interviews on News Talk 610 CKTB Radio in Ontario, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton (interview begins at 17-minute mark), and CBS News Radio in Los Angeles.
Read “We should host the Olympics in the same place every time,” in the Washington Post.
Update 8/7/15: Professor Short wrote an op-ed for The Conversation about the environmental impact of the Olympics and was quoted in an International Business Times article about creating a permanent Olympic site.
Tags: CAHSS, PublicPolicy
