COLORADO SPRINGS — The U.S. Olympic Committee’s board will meet Friday in Houston to discuss a proposal from Colorado Springs to provide new office space and living quarters for athletes.
The city invited four real-estate development companies to submit proposals for 90,000 square feet of office space and 200 new residences in Colorado Springs. The city would not release details of the proposal it sent last week to the USOC.
The U.S. Olympic Assembly, the annual gathering of Olympic organizations in the United States, meets this week in Houston. The USOC board will meet as part of that annual meeting.
“Our board will receive an informational update just as to where things stand, but there won’t be any final decision made this week,” said Darryl Seibel, spokesman for the USOC.
Seibel said the USOC also is evaluating proposals from other communities. It would not specify the communities that have submitted proposals.
Most of the USOC’s 400 employees work in Colorado Springs, and the Olympic Training Center draws 125,000 visitors annually.
Seibel said the USOC has no problems with Colorado Springs, but it is evaluating its long-term needs and determining how to meet them.
Colorado Springs City Councilman Jerry Heimlicher said the city is doing all it can to keep the USOC in town.
“I think it is very prestigious to be the home of the U.S. Olympic headquarters, and I think to lose them or to have them go to another city would indicate that we’ve lost that designation. That’s emotional, that’s not dollars and cents,” Heimlicher said.
He said he worried that the 21 national governing bodies for Olympic sports that have moved to Colorado Springs because of the USOC also could consider leaving if the USOC leaves the city.
“I’m proud they are here, and I want to keep them here,” Heimlicher said.
“This is being negotiated, and there is really nothing I can say about those negotiations except to say that we are providing exactly what the Olympic folks have asked us for.”
Erin Emery: 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com
