The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday unanimously approved the contract it would sign if Los Angeles lands the 2024 Summer Olympics, along with a final list of venues for events and a plan to use both the Memorial Coliseum and the planned NFL stadium in Inglewood for the opening and closing ceremonies.
The vote came ahead of a Feb. 3 deadline, when the LA 2024 Olympic Bid Committee must turn over its final set of documents to the International Olympic Committee. Part of the vote includes a written guarantee the council would sign the contract if the city lands the Games.
“The IOC’s Host City Contract is our promise that Los Angeles is ready to host an outstanding and fiscally responsible Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “If L.A. is selected as the 2024 Host City, our low- risk, high-tech and sustainable Games will inspire the next generation to grow the Olympic movement and provide social and economic benefits for our communities.
Today’s City Council approval is its 14th unanimous vote in support of LA 2024, and it shows that our city is united to bring the Games back to L.A.,” he said.
After Feb. 3, LA 2024 will make a series of presentations to the IOC before the host city is chosen in September in Lima, Peru.
The vote is likely the last major move it will need to make until the host city is selected and concludes more than a year of negotiations and plans with LA 2024 and other entities.
LA 2024 has proposed a privately financed, balanced budget of $5.3 billion for the Games, although Los Angeles must cover any budget shortfalls, according to the contract.
A core part of the balanced budget plan is to only use existing venues like the Coliseum and Staples Center and not build any new permanent buildings just for the Games, and to capitalize on the billions of transportation improvements the city already has planned.
The vote also formalized where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held. Councilman Paul Krekorian — who chairs the Budget and Finance Committee — had voiced opposition to the ceremonies taking place outside the city’s borders.
But after city staff and LA 2024 explored the issue, a plan was created to use both the Coliseum — which hosted the Olympic ceremonies in 1932 and 1984 — and the planned NFL stadium in Inglewood in both ceremonies. Krekorian and other council members have since voiced support for the plan.
The $2.6 billion NFL stadium in Inglewood — called Los Angeles Stadium – – is scheduled to open in 2019 and be the home of the Rams and Chargers.
LA 2024 is competing with bid committees in Paris and Budapest.
—City News Service