After meeting with protest groups while visiting Chicago last week, members of the International Olympic Committee’s Evaluation Commission said they are concerned about possible displacement should Chicago win the 2016 summer Games.
After meeting with protest groups while visiting Chicago last week, members of the International Olympic Committee’s Evaluation Commission said they are concerned about possible displacement should Chicago win the 2016 summer Games.
Several Chicago protest groups voiced their concerns about displacement during the IOC’s visit including No Games Chicago, which met with the evaluation group.
“We met for 15 minutes with the IOC and told them about the number of projects here that ran past deadline and its budget,” said Willie J.R. Fleming, a co-organizer for No Games Chicago. “Look at the redevelopment of public housing by the CHA and Millennium Park. No Games is not anti-Olympic, but we are for accountability.”
Gilbert Felli, an IOC member, said after meeting with No Games Chicago and Housing Bronzeville, another community organization that is concerned about displacement, it now plans to wait and see how Chicago 2016 will address displacement concerns.
“This organization (No Games Chicago) is very concerned about displacement from the Olympics, which is always a concern with residents,” said Felli. “It’s always difficult to build housing for the Olympics and not displace anyone, and they (Chicago 2016) need to address this issue.”
Chicago 2016 is the city’s Olympics committee.
Felli said that the proposed Olympic Village site, at 2929 S. Ellis Ave., is beautiful and that the IOC’s overall consensus was that the community supports the Games.
Mayor Richard M. Daley said residents should not worry about any displacement.
“There will be no displacement. We will not displace one person,” he said while the IOC was in town.
The city chose the Michael Reese Hospital campus for the Olympic Village to avoid displacements, said Lori Healey, president of Chicago 2016.
“That’s why we selected the Michael Reese site for the Olympic Village because it is an isolated location,” she said.
Fleming is not sold on the idea.
“That sounds good on paper, but in reality we know that the Olympic Village will increase property values and force African-American renters out of Bronzeville,” Fleming said.
Other community groups also believe that there is more to the city hosting the Olympics than what meets the eye.
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