DC sees secure games
Organizers say capital already has much of needed security infrasture in place.
February 22, 2002: 5:39 p.m. ET
By Staff Writer Chris Isidore
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Security has become a heightened concern for any Olympic host city in this era of a war on terrorism. Keeping both athletes and fans safe, as well as the nation's capital at the same time, would appear to be a particularly daunting job.
But organizers of Washington D.C.'s bid for the 2012 games insist they are better positioned than other U.S. cities when it comes to the security costs associated with hosting a modern Games.
"A lot of security costs are infrastructure -- putting in place communications, equipment, that type of thing," said Dan Knise, CEO of Washington DC 2012. "We already have a lot of that here."
Still, the committee's estimated cost for security is a very low $60 million, which Knise admits will be only a fraction of what is spent on that should Washington play host to the games.
"We know costs are more than that," he said. "Typically costs are subsidized by the federal government, so it's not all a part of our budget."
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Artist's drawing for a new RFK stadium to serve as an Olympic stadium for the nation's capital. | |
The city, which is making a joint bid with Maryland and Virginia that would put events across the Chesapeake region, also says it has just about all the sports venues it would need already in place, although plans call for the replacement of both RFK Stadium in Washington and the Baltimore Arena.
But it would expect the Games to pick up only a fraction of the cost of those new facilities. Knise argues that there is support for replacing both venues apart from the games.
"Total capital spending would be about $700 million, but we'd spend only about $350 million of that," he said.
Even if Washington is successful in its quest for a major league baseball team in the coming few years, the plans to tear down and replace RFK shouldn't be a problem, Knise said. RFK should only serve as a stopgap baseball stadium, and a major league team would be in a new stadium of its own well before any new Olympic construction would need to begin.
Knise said that even with the capital spending and a $2.7 billion estimated operating budget, he would expect a Washington D.C. Olympics to make money for the region, leaving behind a $200 million fund to support inner-city athletics as well as providing seed money to host other premier sporting events.
Washington and New York are both spending about $9 million on their bid process, according to organizers, or about twice what is being spent by Houston or San Francisco. 
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