With Los Angeles now the clear frontrunner to replace Boston as the American candidate for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, officials have released a 218-page document detailing the city's draft bid.
According to a financial analysis compiled by LA2024, the organizing committee behind the $4.1-billion plan, the majority of costs would be shouldered by contributions from the International Olympic Commitee and private-sector partners. The bid book goes on to project that the proposed Los Angeles games would generate an approximately $161-million surplus.
Noting that Los Angeles is a "showcase of diversity and inclusion of the people and cultures of the world," the LA2024 bid seeks to incorporate the myriad changes currently transforming the city, including revitalized neighborhoods, an expanding passenger rail network, new venues and the restoration of the Los Angeles River.
The plan calls for the vasty majority of events to occur in five clusters, including Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, the Westside, the San Fernando Valley and the South Bay. LA2024 places a strong emphasis on utilizing existing venues owned by private operators.
Additional events outside of the five primary clusters would occur at the Rose Bowl, the Inglewood Forum, Lake Casitas, and near the Los Angeles - Long Beach Harbor complex.
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles, with its ample cultural institutions, restaurants and nightlife, serves a key role in the LA2024 proposal. The cluster would divided into two primary hubs: one near LA Live, and a second centered around Exposition Park and the University of Southern California.
The LA Live cluster makes use of large venues scattered throughout the Sports and Entertainment District, including Staples Center, the Microsoft Theater and the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Proposed events in this area would include gymnastics, basketball, fencing, judo and taekwondo.
Furthermore, as the nexus of the Los Angeles Metro Rail network, Downtown would also be expected to play as key role in mobility for spectators and athletes alike.
Exposition Park
Exposition Park, which also features an abundance of existing venues, would host numerous events under LA2024's plan.
An upcoming stadium planned by the as-of-yet unnamed Los Angeles Football Club of Major League Soccer would host swimming, diving and sychronized swimming. The Galen Center and the nearby Shrine Auditorium would feature boxing and weightlifting respectively.
Like in the previous 1932 and 1984 games, the bid proposes that the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum serve as the Olympic Stadium for the 2024 games.
However, the exact type of improvements proposed for the iconic venue are currently unclear. USC has announced plans for a $500 million upgrade to the facility, but have yet to reveal their exact intentions.
LA2024 sets aside $300 million in its budget for improvements to the Coliseum.
Hollywood Cluster
Hollywood, the iconic home of the city's signature industry, would provide a backdrop for numerous outdoor events under the LA2024 plan.
Hollywood Boulevard would host the start and finish lines for the Olympic marathon, walk and road cycling. Griffith Park, with its hilly terrain, would play host to mountain biking, BMX and golf.
San Fernando Valley Cluster
LA2024's plans for its San Fernando Valley Cluster would be concentrated in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area - a 2,000-acre expanse created by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Proposed Olympic sports include archery, shooting, canoe, slalom, and the modern pentathlon.
Coastal Cluster
The Coastal Cluster, like its Downtown counterpart, will consist of two hubs.
The first, located at Santa Monica Beach, will include Beach Volleyball, the Triathlon, skating and open water swimming.
A second cluster, centered around UCLA, will include preliminary basketball, field hockey, and water polo. Proposed venues on the UCLA campus include Pauley Pavilion, Drake Stadium and the LA Tennis Center.
South Bay Cluster
The South Bay Cluster, centered around the StubHub Center sports complex, would host rugby, tennis and cycling.
Proposed venues include the StubHub Center's soccer and tennis stadiums, as well as the VELO Sports Center.
Olympic Village
LA2024 imagines a Los Angeles River-adjacent Olympic Village on a 125-acre expanse which currently houses operations for the Union Pacific Railroad. The Village - which is intended to house 16,500 athletes - would be centrally located amongst the five clusters. Roughly 94% of all sports would be located within 30 minutes travel time of the Village, and over 50% of sports would be located within 15 minutes.
It is expected that the Village would be developed through a public-private partnership and would feature community-based retail and public open space. Following the games, the residential units would be renovated and then sold or rentered according to market demand.
Conceptual renderings portray a series of high-rise and low-rise structures, interespersed by new roads and expansive green space.
Selection of the host city of the 2024 Olympic Games will occur in 2017.
- LA2024 Bid Book (LA2024)