Springs among 3 cities vying for USOC

ATLANTA - U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth said Friday that the organization wants to see “bulletproof” proposals from three locations, including Colorado Springs, before it decides on a new home for its headquarters.

Ueberroth, Chief Executive Jim Scherr and commercial real estate consultant James Didion met with the 11-member board of directors for more than four hours at an Atlanta hotel. The group discussed plans for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which begin Aug. 8, but also proposals for a new headquarters.

Ueberroth said the USOC had interest from “six viable locations, and we’re down to three.”

Ueberroth declined to name the three locations, except for Colorado Springs. Chicago is still in the mix, perhaps with two of the three locations, Crain’s Chicago Business reported Friday.

The most likely Colorado Springs location is downtown, at Tejon Street and Colorado Avenue. The two Chicago locations reportedly are the Sears Tower and Navy Pier, a tourist spot that juts into Lake Michigan. The USOC chose Chicago as this country’s candidate to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Ueberroth said he hoped to have a decision by the board’s next meeting in May, but there is no firm timetable. To reach a decision, he said he wanted candidates to turn proposals into guarantees.

“We’re trying to see what people have said. Is it real? Are the commitments locked up?” Ueberroth said. Are the proposals “guaranteed so we don’t make a decision and then have it renegotiated on us because then we have lost our (negotiating) position. I think we’re closer, but I’m not going to tell you any timeline.”

Even if the USOC moves its headquarters, the Olympic Training Center at Boulder Street and Union Boulevard almost certainly would remain. With the headquarters moving, the extra space would be used for more athlete facilities.

The USOC moved here in 1978 but has outgrown its office space, some which dates to when the Air Force owned the property.

Colorado Springs officials and developers have worked for months in hopes of keeping the USOC in town because the USOC is an internationally known organization. The city also is home to the national governing bodies of many Olympic sports.

“From my point of view, our proposal is firm and what they need to make a decision,” Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera said Friday. “From my point of view, our commitments are laid out and backed up and to use his term, ‘bulletproof.’”

Referring to Ueberroth’s request for firm commitments from the three remaining finalists, Rivera said, “That is exactly what they need to do. It makes sense to have an ironclad agreement to make sure it comes to fruition. It is one thing to promise and another to deliver on that promise.

“We have provided everything they have asked for so far, and from my point of view, Colorado Springs is the best location for the Olympic Committee. We’ve provided a topnotch proposal that is great for the USOC, great for the athletes and great for the NGBs (national governing bodies). We have put something very valuable on the table, and I hope they accept and we have a partnership for decades to come.”

Colorado Springs Councilwoman Margaret Radford was optimistic.

“We have worked very hard,” she said. “I think we’ll get there, but we’re not there yet.”

Scherr said Colorado Springs leaders have cooperated with the USOC.

“We are pleased with the responsiveness of the mayor’s office, the city manager’s office, the City Council and the various developers involved,” Scherr said. “We are pleased with the efforts they’ve made and their work to try to present the very best possible alternatives for the USOC to remain in Colorado Springs.

“It’s an exceptionally important decision. It positions our organization for the next 25 years — how we define ourselves, how we define our impact and our reach and the cost of our operations. There are few decisions more significant than this one.”

(Brian Gomez reported from Atlanta. Wayne Heilman reported from Colorado Springs.)