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Show January 20, 1973 THE MOUNTAIN FLOWER Page 5 The Torch That Wouldn't Li Olympics was a sprawling Olympic village and press center to be built in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains west of By MIKE WHITNEY It was 1957 when the rumor - first circulated among Denver- -' ites their city might try to host the 1976 Winter Olympics: According to Denver newsman Tom Ash, who gave us much of the background information for this stoiy, that rumor didnt cause much excitement. 1976 was, after all, 19 years away. The rumor quickly died down and most residents of the mile-hig- h city forgot about the 1976 games. But a few Denver and Colorado government officials and a few promoters didnt forget about tlie Winter Olympics. They kept working on the idea - ; that was accomplished, the C.C.F. began to wonder if they hadnt defeated themselves with their own referendums. In their final form on the ballot, the referendums ask, "Should further funding for the 1976 Winter Olympics by the City of Denver be halted? and "Should further funding of the 1976 Winter Olympics by the State of Colorado be halted? Winter Olympics, several groups were formed. But only one ofthose groups, the The-C.C.F- ic "Citizens for Colorados Future, (C.C.F.), became a significant force. The C.C.F. derived a good deal of its power from the fact that several of its original organizers and most - was afraid that . enough people would either misunderstand the wording of the referendums, or simply not read them, and vote no, thinking they were voting "no to the Olympics. -- prominent members were members of the Colorado state legislature. Chief among them was Tom Farley, a Democratic state Colorado. After the organization ' The C.C.F. added to premature death: The ski resorts in the area didnt want the games. Both Vale and Aspen refused to tee people back in host any of the Olympic events. Their reason for doing so was simple: they of building the Olympic facilities, it would also The "Citizens for Colorados Future next, circulated a petition to place a referendum on the 1972 Colorado general election ballot that would cut off Denver city and Colorado state money for the games. The signatures were gathered and the referen-dumone for Denver and one for the state, were placed on the ballot. But ..once problem that may have Colorado, tee D.O.O.C. pointed out that tee elimination of bob sledding from the games would not only cut down on tee cost didnt give up hope, however. Just prior to the election on Nov. 7 they gave the people of Colorado two facts to think about. First, they pointed out, the people of Colorado had already spent more money per capita on the 1976 Winter Olympics, all of it for studies of how to put the games on, without a dime having been spent on any actual construction of Olympic facilities, than the people of California had spent when the Winter Olympics at Squaw Val-- . ley were all over. Second, when the Winter Olympics in Soporo, Japan were all over, tee people could make more money by conducting their normal skiing businesses than by turn- eliminate one source of ecological damage to tee foothills of the Rocky Mountains. To tee I.O.C. the D.O.O.C. pointed out that so ing their slopes over to the Olympics for ten days. The only Colorado ski area that agreed to take part in the few nations participate in the bob sledding events that the expense of building runs for those events couldnt be justified. same time eliminate the opposition to the games. When the people of Denver . Games, Arkin and his commit- backfired. The U. S. Congress passed a . bill giving the. D.O.O.C. . tee were serious about their effort They went so far as to obtain a court order that delayed, for a couple of weeks, the official notification by the D.O.O.C. of th3 I.O.C. that Denver would no longer host tee FEATURING Live Entertainment OldTimeASkiMovies Lg Char-Broile- d German Bratwurst Popcorn A Peanuts Imported Beers Coots On Tap Obadlah'a Organic Bluegraaa Band Fri. & i Main Street Park City BAAI...LB Mb... 4.8 Unto Ua... IB GOP! is THIS 50Mfone!s ioca of A LteW...MS V PRACTICAL Uato...50e Baked TOMDISTAD and Mark and Marbry perform nightly - BEER AND BOOGIE - : W ,' MWTM...LB irdi THE DOOR &0006 ie- wce,.ooo3ocxxKvoooc-aooo.- Sat. NitM Darin... 7.8 MY 873 East 9th South SahLdwGty a i i r1! lgpIiiUnUa...UD i bit if 84060 Behind the Palace Flophouse idjaccnt to the Resort Parking hit . Sandwiches 1bpniatala...4:S JAZZ, COUNTRY, BLUES, CLASSICS A PRES SKI CLUB P. O. BOX 81 SKI TO SALOON TertyaH CMcten...4X THE GARAGE - t mm MI We specialize in pOOMOMOOaOOOOOMMOaMOOOOOOOOOa PARK CITY. UTAH SOLID Cboppod November) attached an amendment to that bill that automati- - iviit The second is $5,000,000 (Continued on page 6) ttadkr...U0 Allot, (now a lame duck, defeated by Haskell in id Denver. oj But Denvers short tenure as ?. the host city left it with two 0 legacies. f; One is a giant stadium that& was to host tee indoor events of tee games in downtown Denver. The stadium was also planned for use by tee Western Hockyfr League Denver Spurs and the American Basketball League Denver Rockets after the Olym-pic- s, and it will still be built for V use by those two teams. refused to believe that they couldnt somehow, keep the voted overwhelmingly to cut off city and state funds for games in Denver. Denver businessman, Harry. the games. 'Arkin tee halt with even quickly got together a Curiously, for the funds committee, composed mostly of state to city and who wanted businessmen other games, the Wipter Olympics in Denver, and could still have been held in the games Comtee dubbed "Citizens it Denver except for cm apparent mittee to Retain the Winter piece of political blackmail teat $15,000,000 in federal money to help stege tee games. Even after tee end of city and state money for tee games, that $15,000,000 could, conceivable, have covered tee cost of hosting the games in . , Denver. But Colorado Senator Gordan effort to keep the games inn a few Olympic supporters who and Colorado went to the poles on November 7 they . games. And while the legal delay was in effect, Arkin tried to round-u- p Jj private financing for the Olym- pics. He even went to Switzer- - jj? land for a meeting with I.O.C. p. President Lord Killanin. Arkin contended that the voters of $ Colorado had only voted to end funding of the games, not to jjjf keep them out of tee state. But he could not find the private financial support for the Winter Olympics he was looking for and was finally forced to give up his games was Steamboat Springs, which is not exactly a quick ride from Denver. But even after there was not more money from tee city, tee state of tee federal government, and it was clear that there would be no Winter Olympics in Denver in 1976, there were still But Loves torch failed to light, and the elimination of bob sledding did not at the s, it somewhere else. There was verbal opposition to Denver hosting the Winter Olympics, from Denverites, several years before the city was actually designated as site ofthe games. But that opposition was not organized until after the 1.0.- C. had made its choice. Following Denvers designation as the host city of the 1976 anti-Olymp- ic sledding.) To Winter Olympics were much more like to be a financial boondoggle than a financial boon to the city of Denver. and the U.S. Government wanted to put on a good show in 1976, they could do The Winter Olympics in Denver had one other mqjor four-ma- pointing out that the 1976 1.0.- C. teem. two-ma- games on economic grounds, Meanwhile back in Denver, there was a growing number of people who felt that if the ic Denver Olympic Organizing Committee tried .to rob the C.C.F. of some of its arguments against tee Olympics. The D.O.O.C. informed the I.O.C. that they probably wouldnt build any bob sled runs in tee hills west of Denver and that they definitely wouldnt build a louge run. Louge is a n type of bob sledding using a n sled rather than tee sled normally used in bob primarily, on ecological ground. They fought the show. took every opportunity to voice the sentiment of his committee on the floor of the Colorado state house. Much of the original opposition to the Winter Olympics centered around ecological con-- , cems. Among projected' construction projects for the Winter pro-Olymp- But the C.C.F. did not fight against the Winter Olympics was Denver. Although no member of the 1.0.- C. said so at the time, the general feeling among newsmen covering the story was that the international committee gave the Olympic bid to the U.S. site because 1976 is U.S. bicentennial year and it was felt the U.S. Government would see to it that the 1976 games would be a good of the C.C.F. in 1972, Farley John Love organized tee "Light the Torch Now. ( L.T.N.) committee. And the Olympic village. games. Once again, the choice representative from Pueblo, Shortly after tee organization of tee C.C.F., Colorado governor, attach any redeeming social significance to these pieces of construction as they had to the tional Olympic Committee, (I.O.C.) next considered the choice of a site for the 1976 - against the winter games. more the Denver Olympic Committee Organizing hadnt (D.O.O.C.), managed to Winter Olympics, that candidate was Denver. The Interna- cally ended federal funds if the people of Colorado voted to cut off dty and state money. Alott evidently felt that a good many people wanted to have tee Olympics in Denver, but didnt wafit to pay for it with their tax money if they could possible avoid it. And his amendment, evidently, was intended to say to the voters of Colorsulo: "Look, if you dont spend some local money, you cant have the games. So you might as well vote to spend that local money. Alott apparently misjudged tee number of people who were opposed to tee Winter Olympics no matter who paid for - Denver. There were also ski and bob sled runs planned for those same hills. The Olympic village was to be used as low income housing units after, the games. The C.C.F. conceded that this was a noble plan, but they alan pointed out that the picturesque foothills of the Rocky Mountains would be a poor location for a quicky concrete suburb. The ski and bob sled runs, and other facilities that would have to be built to take care of the crowds of spectators, would cause even more damage to the hills west of Denver, and whats of hosting the 1976 games. When the United States Olympic Committee (U.S.O.C.) .named its candidate for the 1976 anti-Olymp- of Soporo wound-u- p $29,000,000 in the red. The C.C.F. did not, of course, go unopposed in their- fight 573 MAIN STREET PARK CITY 619-805- 1 V |