Looks like Colorado Springs will get to keep USOC

The U.S. Olympic Committee appears likely to keep its headquarters in Colorado Springs, a victory for city and civic leaders who worked feverishly behind the scenes for months to retain the organization as it weighed offers from other communities.

A $53 million incentives package that would provide the USOC and several Olympic-related amateur sports groups with new offices in downtown Colorado Springs, while funding major upgrades to the Olympic Training Center in the heart of town, will be considered by the City Council during a special council meeting at 12:45 p.m. Monday, city officials said Friday.

Mayor Lionel Rivera said he's optimistic the USOC board then will accept the city's package, which he and others say would cement the city's ties with the organization for another 25 years. The USOC, which oversees the nation's Olympic movement and has been in the Springs since 1978, brings prestige and millions of dollars in economic impact to the city.

A source familiar with discussions between the city and USOC said the USOC board is expected to act on the city's offer immediately after the council's action.

A news conference for Monday afternoon at the USOC's current Boulder Street headquarters has been scheduled, and invitations were sent to community leaders.

"The USOC has asked us to move forward and finalize our offer," Rivera said. "It's not an official offer until we vote on it and send it to them."

Darryl Seibel, a USOC spokesman, said Friday that the USOC board and its top management met via conference call Thursday night. The board made no decision at that time, nor was it asked to by its management, he said.

"A formal proposal has not yet been accepted by the USOC," Seibel said.

USOC board member Mary McCagg said Friday, "we haven't finalized our decision yet."

The city's financial offer to the USOC, spelled out in a news release that Springs officials issued Friday, includes public and private financing.

The city would provide $27 million in low-interest financing for the project, and the state of Colorado would contribute $500,000 to the USOC.

LandCo Equity Partners, a Springs real estate company and whose downtown building would become home for the USOC, would arrange for nearly $23.5 million in private funding. The Springsbased El Pomar Foundation, one of Colorado's largest charitable trusts, is contributing $2 million.

In addition, Rivera would lead a community fundraising campaign for the project. No goal has been set on how much city officials and community leaders would attempt to raise or over what time, Rivera said.

The Springs would spend about $1.7 million a year in taxpayer money over the next 25 years to pay off debt incurred as part of its contribution to the USOC incentives package, city officials estimate. That amount might be reduced, depending on how much money is collected through the community fundraising effort.

Rivera, however, said the city's contribution would be more than offset by the millions of dollars each year that the USOC, sports groups and the tourism industry pump into the local economy through jobs and spending.

If the USOC leaves, Rivera said, "where will we get that money to make up that loss? That's less city services we could provide if we lose the long-term partnership with the USOC."

Monday's council meeting would cap months of negotiations among city officials, local developers and the USOC, considered one of the more prestigious organizations in town and which essentially is one of the few corporate headquarters in Colorado Springs. With about 400 employees, the USOC and Olympic-related sports groups contribute more than $316 million a year to the local economy, Springs economist Dave Bamberger has estimated.

Last fall, USOC officials said they were evaluating proposals from other cities on the future of its headquarters. In February, USOC board chairman Peter Ueberrothsaid the organization was weighing proposals from Colorado Springs and two other locations. Chicago news media reported the USOC was considering moves to the Sears Tower office building and Navy Pier in that city's downtown.

Rita Athas, executive director of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development agency, said Friday that she hasn't been told by the USOC whether it has decided to stay in the Springs.

"We felt that we were seriously considered, and we still think we're in consideration until we're told no," Athas said. "We certainly knew it would be an uphill battle." She confirmed that Sears Tower and Navy Pier were the two locations included in Chicago's offer but declined to elaborate further.