LA To Bid For 2012 Summer Games

LOS ANGELES City organizers here reported their intent to bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The bid is expected to show enough readiness that it could be workable in 2004, should preparations for the Athens Olympics falter. Los Angeles held Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984, and a third would be unprecedented. The key to the bid is existing facilities not much new construction is needed. Ready to go now are a host of world-class venues, including several built since the 1984 Games, such as Staples Center and the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim. Some facilities would need renovations but only one building, a shooting range, would have to be built from scratch at the expense of the organizing committee. Although Los Angeles officials stressed that the bid is for 2012, the package could easily be ready to take over in 2004 in the unlikely event Greek organizers fail to have Athens ready for the next Summer Games. Decision for the 2012 Games is still years away. The Olympic bid process takes so long that a child now in first grade will have just graduated from high school by the time those Games begin on July 27, 2012. (12/5/00) Source: LA Times