Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaine
AKA, everyone that didn't agree with how I voted is wrong. Damned be the reasons!
It has been proven (scroll up for some interesting articles) about how hosting the Olympics creates relevancy for all of a few months before returning to normal or declining.
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From a sport standpoint, Canmore, the Oval and Winsport/Cop still have facilities that host World Cup events in their sports. Athletes come here from around the world to train at them. They are also a part about legacy. As would a new field house which citizens would be using 35 years on.
Sure, the civic pride is here and gone for some (I still have all my 88 Olympic gear from when I was 12, and pins still on the same towel) and Germans and Japanese tourists will take few snapshots beside the 2026 mural in winter 2027 and forget about it after, but that's fine.
There is also the element of having other parts of Canada help pay for some sport and civic facilities, and infrastructure upgrades across the city. And getting shovels in the ground on those projects, not get caught up in civic planning and political tlred tape as they always seem to at the local level. Those funds also help build media and athlete housing which likely could've been lower income housing post games. Sure, there is a premium on tax payers becuase of the astromical cost of security, something that wasn't there in 1988 to worry about, but those civic projects, lasting decades into the future, would also come from that.
So, be glib and flippant with your answers, but there is more substance than just a civic pat on the back that these game could've given the city, nevermind the intangibles of a bit of hope and something to look forward to, which was certainly the case in the mid 80s.