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Archive Chicago, IL

Cancelled

Chicago 2016 Olympic Stadium, Washington Park

Washington Park, Chicago, IL, roughly bounded by S King Dr, E 51st St, S Cottage Grove Ave, and E 60th St approximate location

Chicago's Olympic bid proposed a South Side stadium that would have been reduced to a 10,000-seat neighborhood venue after the Games. The IOC eliminated Chicago in the first voting round on October 2, 2009; the proposed stadium was never built in Washington Park.

What got built

Current photograph of Chicago 2016 Olympic Stadium, Washington Park in Chicago.
Photograph by Kidfly182, 2026-02-18. Source. CC BY 4.0.

This photograph was verified against the project and published with recorded first-party, public-domain, or reusable-license rights. How the visual evidence works.

What changed

  • Bid proposed an 80,000 seat temporary stadium in Washington Park for track and field events and opening and closing ceremonies, at a cited cost of roughly 366 million dollars.
  • The design was intended to be largely dismantled after the Games, leaving a roughly 10,000 seat venue, a track, and a small amphitheater in the park.
  • IOC President Jacques Rogge publicly praised the temporary-stadium concept as a possible model for more affordable, lower-footprint future Games.
  • The IOC eliminated Chicago in the first round of voting on October 2, 2009, with 18 votes; Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Games.
  • No stadium construction occurred in Washington Park as a result of the bid.

Why it changed

Chicago was eliminated with 18 votes in the first round of IOC voting on October 2, 2009, and Rio de Janeiro was selected as host. Contemporary accounts speculated about factors including U.S. visa policy and how votes might consolidate in later rounds, but the sources reviewed do not establish either as the official cause of Chicago's defeat.

Details

Status
Abandoned. None of the design was built.
Where
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood
Washington Park
Developer
Chicago 2016 (bid committee)
Architect
Not identified in the sources reviewed
Rendering credit
Raydust Studios visualization of the Chicago 2016 bid design
The built result
Photographed by Kidfly182, 2026-02-18

Sources

  1. Raydust Studios: Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid, Washington Park visualization rayduststudios.com
  2. Wikipedia: Chicago bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics en.wikipedia.org
  3. Chicago Tribune: The Olympics That Weren't chicagotribune.com
  4. International Olympic Committee: Rio de Janeiro elected 2016 host city olympics.com

Research checked . Status and figures are updated when a source changes.

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