by John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College
The World Cup coming to Atlanta is a huge opportunity for Cobb County as well as its sports and entertainment and transportation offerings. But there’s a right way the region can score at this event, and a way that this could turn into a big nil for the county north of Atlanta.
One mistake that could happen is that Atlanta in general, and Cobb County in particular, may be tempted to go on a building spree. That could lead to overbuilding that plagued the aftermath of the Athens Olympics in 2004. “For Greeks who swelled with pride at the time, the Games are now a source of anger as the country struggles through a six-year depression, record unemployment, homelessness and poverty,” Euronews wrote. The authors noted an Oxford University study that Greece had a cost overrun of 97 percent and it cost $11 billion to put on, more than twice what was projected. Many structures are crumbling and unused, instead of using lower cost prefab options.
Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics, and it faces similar issues with unused structures and abandoned venues according to NBC Chicago, which adds similarly empty Olympic spaces from Berlin to Sarajevo to Rio de Janeiro.
Closer to home, I’ve written about problems with the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Tennis Center near Stone Mountain Georgia. The Georgia Dome received mixed reviews, and was imploded after 25 years.
A better option may be to upgrade existing used facilities to entice teams to play scrimmages nearby (the way the 2012 London Olympics were constructed, one that I was fortunate enough to attend), and places fans to go to such events. There’s the Atlanta United FC Training Ground, the Quique Lopez Football Park, Cobb Adult Soccer, TOCA Soccer Center West Cobb, Mud Creek Soccer Complex, Marathon Soccer Park, and Marietta Indoor Sports soccer field, Legacy Park Adult Soccer, and more. Some will be better…
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