By now, you’ve heard that an exploratory committee (which includes numerous Colorado celebrities) is taking a look at whether Denver should make an Olympics bid.
We’ve talked about this committee a lot … and now, let’s introduce you to the other side: NOlympics Colorado.
You might already be familiar with one of the co-chairs: Former Gov. Dick Lamm (D-Colorado). He led the campaign against the Mile High City hosting the 1976 Olympics – something voters agreed with. They rejected the bid in 1972, making Denver the only city to do so.
Now, Lamm is leading the charge against the latest attempt to bring the games to Denver.
NOlympics will be gathering on the West Foyer of the Colorado State Capitol at 9 a.m. Friday.
Kyle Zeppelin, the president of Zeppelin Places, is the co-chair of NOlympics. In a news release, he called hosting the Olympics a “financial time bomb.”
In an interview with 9NEWS, Lamm equated the Olympics to Amazon moving its second headquarters to Denver. He says both would push infrastructure past their limits and only add to more unnecessary population growth, driving up costs for Coloradans.
Zeppelin and Lamm will debate these points on March 10 with three representatives from the exploratory committee: Chair Rob Cohen, Jerome Davis, the co-chair of Games Operations, and Steve McConahey, the co-chair of the Finance Committee.
That discussion, moderated by Chris Dempsey, the organizer of No Boston Olympics, will take place at 2600 Leyden Street in northeast Denver.
The exploratory committee appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock includes big names like Peyton Manning, Colorado native and NBA legend Chauncey Billups, former Olympian Jeremy Bloom, Denver City Coucilman Albus Brooks and Tami Door, the president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership.
They have not yet released the findings of their study or community survey.
On the exploratory committee’s website, they say the Olympics could allow the city to bolster existing infrastructure and provide revenue for things like affordable housing and lessening Interstate 70 traffic.
