Did you know that Colorado was picked to host the Winter Olympics at one point, but had to decline the offer? That’s right, the state of Colorado was picked as a spot to host the 1976 Olympics, but voters on the 1972 ballot rejected the offer. Why? Well, a few factors played in the state’s decision to reject the offer:
1. Increased taxes
For the Olympics to take place in any state, its residents must accept the tax increase, and those residents were offered a 5 million dollar bond. This was a very overwhelming amount to put down as taxpayers, so the citizens declined the offer due to costs.
2. Weather
A section of the winter Olympics was to be held on Loveland Pass in Clear Creek and Summit Counties, but snowfall didn’t work in their favor, as Loveland Pass was seeing less snow than needed for the skiing portion of the Olympics.
3. Population Increase
At the time of the events taking place, Denver was expected a huge gain in population. City residents were concerned about damage to infrastructure, and there were also environmental concerns due to the possibility of more housing being built in the Metro area, which resulted in more land/openspaces to be demolished in favor of building more housing suburbs.
Now, since this was back in the 1970s, could we see another attempt at Denver being a city for the Olympics? As of now, no, and this is due to increased costs on housing, building projects, and transportation being much higher than 1976 prices. Still, many civilians would love for the Olympics to be in Colorado!
