I suspect everybody has an Olympic memory that leaves you marveling at the extraordinary human body and spirit.
What about in the 1996 team gymnastics competition, nailing her landing with a badly injured ankle? Or swimmer Jason Lezak’s improbable charge to the wall in Beijing to beat a mouthy and heavily favored French team in the ? Or, going way back, Jesse Owens’ in 1936 on Adolf Hitler’s turf?
There are so many. I could go on. And I’m sure you could, too.
These are the sorts of moments the city of Colorado Springs wants to display in a new Olympic history museum — the first of its kind in the nation.
And the city is asking for state tourism incentives to build the $59.4 million facility.
When it comes to the Regional Tourism Act (RTA), everyone, it seems, is focusing on over whether the Gaylord Rockies Hotel and Conference Center ought to get financial support. Meanwhile, this has gotten little notice.
And that’s puzzling, because it has the “wow” factor that, frankly, none of the other RTA applicants have had.
First, the U.S. Olympic Committee is cooperating on the project. You can bet that will ensure quality museum content.
Second, it seems to have significant potential for philanthropic support. The applicants hope to raise perhaps half the cost in private funding.
Third, museum backers project 82 percent of the estimated 350,000 annual visitors will come from out of state.
That’s a key factor in deciding whether the museum fits RTA rules. Projects must bring new business to Colorado to qualify to capture a portion of state sales tax generated in the area.
The museum is one piece of a four-part project Colorado Springs has proposed for RTA funding. The other components, to be candid, just aren’t as compelling: a downtown stadium for minor league baseball and other uses; a sports medicine and performance center at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; and a new visitor’s center at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
They are fine ideas, but they just don’t have the unique appeal of a venue that chronicles the drama and achievement of the Olympic games.
Exhibit A: , 1980. Need I say more?
The museum would have an outdoor Olympic torch, 20,000 square feet of exhibition space, a theater, and a special events area.
Dick Celeste, former Colorado College president, is leading the museum effort. As governor of Ohio, he helped create the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to great economic benefit.
“I saw what it did for Cleveland,” he told me.
The museum would capitalize on the presence of the U.S. Olympic training center in the Springs, the USOC itself, and the assorted federations that are headquartered there.
The Springs has worked hard to keep the USOC happy. The city put together a deal that included construction of a new headquarters in 2010.
The museum would further anchor the Olympic movement there. Keep in mind, USA Basketball just announced it is , so there is reason to be vigilant.
I’m not saying a museum would have kept basketball in town, but that sort of development feeds on itself. The more of a hotspot the region becomes for Olympic sports, the better.
As it stands, the Colorado Springs RTA proposal has made it past the initial hurdle. It still must pass muster after being examined by independent analysts. A final decision will come in December.
Of course, taxpayers’ interests should come first, but an Olympic museum sure seems like a winning idea.
E-mail Denver Post editorial writer Alicia Caldwell at acaldwell@ denverpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AliciaMCaldwell
