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Birmingham's Mayor Has Olympic Aspirations

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The New York Times

Published: August 24, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In his first year as Birmingham's mayor, Larry P. Langford has proposed a $500 million domed stadium, a $144 million law enforcement complex and a $33 million trolley car network.

But those ideas were dwarfed by Langford's proclamation this month: He wants the Olympics.

"Why shouldn't Birmingham host the Olympics in 2020?" Langford, 60, asked during an interview.

With 230,000 people, Birmingham is far smaller than most of the cities that have played host to the Summer Olympics. It lacks sufficient hotel space, transportation options and athletic facilities, as the mayor concedes. And Atlanta, the last American city to host the Summer Games, in 1996, is 145 miles away.

The mayor proposed building roads, hotels and athletic facilities, and spreading Olympic events throughout Alabama and into neighboring states.

The response has alternated between laughter and frustration. Roads are deteriorating in the city. The crime rate is rising. And the county that Birmingham is part of, Jefferson, where Langford was the president of the County Commission until 2007, is on the brink of what could be the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history.

By all accounts, Birmingham's odds of winning the Olympics are slim.

"With all due respect to the mayor of Birmingham, it's just not anywhere on our radar screen," said Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee. "Right now, our attention is focused on one bid and one bid only, and that's our 2016 effort in Chicago."

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