Reluctant Host: Denver and the 1976 Winter Olympic Games

Torch of Controversy Lighted
October 17, 1972

In 1963, Colorado Governor John A. Love delivered a speech in Colorado Springs which mentioned Colorado serving as host for the Olympics. 

Melvin J. Roberts, right, president of the Denver Clearing House Assn., holds up a copy of the Denver Olympic Committee's presentation book, used to win the United States competition. Roberts was presented with [the] book by Thomas Hildt, Jr., vice-president of finance for the Denver Olympic Committee, after receiving a check for $10,000 as This year's contribution from the assn. The money will be used in the DOC's 1968 budget for promotional expenses to win international designation for 1976 Winter games.
June 16, 1968

During the following year's Winter Olympic Games, Colorado officially announced its intention to bid for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games, and Governor Love created the Colorado Olympic Commission to study the possibility. 

Members of the International Ski Federation inspected Denver's proposed sites for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games Tuesday and pronounced them excellent. Surveying Loveland Basin are, from left, Robert Faure, chairman of the FIS alpine committee; Willy Schaeffler, technical director of ski events for the Denver Organizing Committee; FIS President Marc Hodler; and Hubert Spiess, head of the alpine courses subcommittee.
October 30, 1968

In 1966, the Colorado Advisory Committee was formed to support the efforts of the Commission.

Group to Push Denver's Olympic Bid
October 8, 1968

In 1967, the Denver Organizing Committee (DOC) for the 1976 Winter Olympics was formed. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chose Denver, Colorado, as its official candidate for the 1976 Winter Olympics bid. Other contenders included Lake Placid, New York; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Washington.

Members of the Denver Olympic Committee left for Amsterdam Monday to make Denver's showdown pitch for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Those who boarded King Resources plane at Stapleton were, left to right, Richard Davis, Gerald F. Groswold, Thomas Hildt, Jr., Mrs. Sidney Robbins, Brigitte Bastian, Norman Brown, Willy Schaefler and Bill Kostka, Jr. Plane left at 4 p.m.
May 4, 1970

In 1968, representatives from the Denver Organizing Committee (DOC) attended the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France, and the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, Mexico. 

Pairs of young women wearing blue and white Olympic sashes will take to Denver streets Friday for "Olympic Pin Sale Day." It will be the first major opportunity for Denver citizens to support the city's bid for the 1976 Olympics by purchasing and wearing the official Denver Olympic lapel pin. The pins will be sold for $2 each.
March 20, 1970

Also in 1968, the official Colorado Olympic symbol was designed.

Robert J. Pringle, president of Denver's Olympic Committee, left, and Mayor McNichols were greeted on their arrival in Denver Saturday night by a large sign at Stapleton International Airport. They remained in Amsterdam a day longer than the rest of the delegation that successfully bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics earlier in the week.
May 16, 1970

On May 12, 1970, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Denver as the host city of the XII Winter Olympic Games (1976). Denver edged out Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, Canada.

Olympic speed skating gold medalists Dianne Holum, left, and Anne Henning, right, discuss Denver's concept for an Olympic speed skating arena with David Lucy, DOC manager of support facilities. Miss Holm won a gold and a silver medal and Miss Henning a gold and bronze medal at Sapporo. The Northbrook, Ill., girls received citations from the General Federation of Women's Clubs here recently.
June 11, 1972

Initial sites chosen for the Games included the University of Denver, which would host the Olympic Village and a speed skating facility.

This is a model of the Olympic speed skating rink. It's supposed to cost $2.2 million to $2.5 million. It could require 685 skaters a day to pay it off after the 1976 games are over.
April 2, 1971

Other proposed sites included:

  • Loveland Basin and Mt. Sniktau for alpine events 
  • Denver Mountain Parks for Nordic, bobsled and luge events 
  • Denver Coliseum for free skating and ice hockey events
  • Currigan Exhibition Center for a press center
Shown is the north slope of Doublehead Mountain, on the right, the site favored by the Denver Organizing Committee for Olympic luge, bobsled and ski jump facilities. Photo was taken from the Peaceful Hills residential development north of proposed site.
February 1, 1972

In 1971, opposition to Colorado hosting the 1976 Winter Games grew. 

Colorado politicians met with officials from the Denver Organizing Committee Monday and discussed plans for the 1976 Winter Games. From left, are Rep. James D. McKevitt, Gov. Love, Mayor McNichols, Sen. Gordon L. Allott, Sen. Peter H. Dominick and Rep. Frank E. Evans.
August 16, 1971

Speakers at a Colorado State Legislative Committee meeting in March 1971 asserted economic and environmental objections to Colorado hosting the Games. The Denver Organizing Committee (DOC) interpreted these comments to be directed towards the location of events in particular communities—not to the Olympics as a whole. 

The virtues and drawbacks of having Nordic Olympic events staged in their community were debated by Evergreen residents Thursday. Doug Jones, left, president of the Mountain Area Planning Council, a group opposed to the site location, acted as sponsor of the meeting attended by Denver Olympic Committee president Robert Pringle, center, and F. G. Robinson, in charge of site selection.
June 10, 1970

An Evergreen, Colorado, group objected strongly to the location of Nordic event sites in their area. State representatives Robert Jackson and Richard Lamm also declared their opposition.

Dwight Filley, one of three state coordinators of Citizens for Colorado's future, discusses strategy Tuesday for a saturation campaign to urge Denver area voters to support two Nov. 7 ballot proposals aimed at thwarting future city and state funding of the 1976 Winter Olympics.
October 3, 1972

By 1972, several Olympic events were relocated. The alpine events site was moved from Loveland Basin and Mount Sniktau to Vail, and Nordic, bobsled and luge events were relocated from Denver Mountain Parks to Steamboat Springs. The distance from Denver to the new sites was greater, but the DOC believed buses, trains and air transportation would be effective in getting athletes, coaches, judges, spectators and members of the press to these locations.

As projected costs to host the Games rose, public concern escalated. Representative Richard Lamm led a group to organize a referendum to deny Colorado Olympic funding for the November 1972 ballot. On November 7, 1972, Colorado voters, concerned about the financial burden and environmental impact of the Olympic Games on their state, approved Amendment 8, the Colorado Winter Olympic Games Funding and Tax Amendment. This amendment prohibited the state from levying taxes and appropriating or loaning funds for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games.

Carl DeTemple, left, president of the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee (DOOC), was served a restraining order Thursday by attorney Harry L. Arkin, right, barring the DOOC from telling The International Olympic Committee that Denver won't host the 1976 Winter Games. Arkin represents a new citizens group hoping to raise money to save the Games from Tuesday's vote cutting off state, city and federal funds. DeTemple criticized the action.
November 9, 1972

Shortly thereafter, Innsbruck, Austria, replaced Denver as the host of the 1976 Winter Olympic Games.

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Comments

Submitted by Jude (not verified) on Fri, 03/16/2018 - 11:53

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I remember reading that the organizers planned to have parking on Evergreen Lake, which they assumed would be frozen solid enough. Many car owners would probably have found their cars at the bottom of the lake had this been implemented. This was typical of the overly-optimistic assumptions--logisical and financial--made in the planning of the games and Colorado voters used common sense in declining the "opportunity" of hosting them.

Submitted by carol foreman (not verified) on Tue, 03/20/2018 - 18:13

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I voted against the '76 Olympics for many of the reasons stated above. I was a young voter, and I thought it was so important that the citizens got the chance to have their say. I hope we do this time as well.

Submitted by George E Mayl (not verified) on Thu, 03/29/2018 - 08:03

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There are far more pressing decisions facing Denver and Colorado that need attention, the Olympics is not one of them.

Submitted by Miguel Ceballos Ruiz (not verified) on Wed, 05/02/2018 - 16:30

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This is confusing, so was the referendum a bond issue? Was it measure 8 that defeated the Olympics or the bond vote, or a combination of both?

Submitted by Katie Rudolph on Wed, 05/02/2018 - 17:15

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Thanks for your question, Miguel. I will update the language of this post to make it more clear. Simply put, yes - Amendment 8 (the Colorado Winter Olympic Games Funding and Tax Amendment) was the measure that defeated the Olympics. This measure prohibited the state from levying taxes and appropriating or loaning funds for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Voters approved the measure, and this meant that the $5-million bond needed to fund the games (a supplement to federal funds) could not move forward. 

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