The location of Chicago’s proposed Olympic Village could be changed.
As it stands, if Chicago gets the Summer Games, the Olympic Village is set to be just south of McCormick Place, right along Lake Michigan. But now that Michael Reese Hospital will be closing because of financial problems, Olympic Village could expand into that area as well. Pete Scales is a spokesperson for Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development. He says the hospital’s closure gives the Olympic Village private developers some wiggle room in their planning.
SCALES: It gives the planners of the village a lot of different options, too. And I think that’ll be a real strength then for the bid, frankly.
A spokesperson for Chicago’s 2016 bid committee says the Michael Reese location would be a natural fit with its current Olympic Village plans. Meantime, a spokesperson for Medline, the company that owns the property, wouldn’t comment on talks with the city.