Chicago touts its history to IOC

April 7, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Not all of the details of what the city is promising has been worked out, though.

CHICAGO (AP) — Organizers of Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics hammered on history Monday, telling an International Olympic Committee team the city’s commitment to the environment and accessibility emerged long before its push for the games.

Organizers noted they are not allowed to contrast what competing bid cities Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid are doing, but stressed during a media briefing that they’re highlighting Chicago’s leadership in both areas.

IOC inspectors learned that the city dates its environmental efforts back a century to architect and planner Daniel Burnham, whose 1909 master plan called for an entirely open and accessible lakefront. Organizers then fast-forwarded to Mayor Richard Daley, who they called a longtime proponent of green construction, rooftop gardens and other environmental initiatives.

“Mayor Daley is proving that big cities around the world can truly exist in harmony with nature,” Suzanne Malec-McKenna, commissioner with the city’s Department of Environment told the briefing.

Chicago is the first stop on the IOC inspection tour and as organizers in other cities will certainly do, they pulled out the heaviest of heavy hitters to offer their support.

Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, addressed the IOC team in person Monday, while Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared via video.

Jarrett promised that the White House would set up an office to provide support for the games and oversee a host of federal agencies, the first time the White House has done so before the final selection of a host city, organizers said.

Clinton said the government will make sure the customs and immigration process will be streamlined so athletes and other visitors will have no trouble getting to the games.

Organizers also touted Chicago’s numerous innovations. For example, the IOC learned about a plan for 100 percent of the games’ energy to come from renewable sources. And there were the proposed “energy generating floor tiles” that the bid’s literature touts as harnessing people’s steps into energy.

But organizers also acknowledged a lot of details haven’t been worked out.

“The renewable energy we would use has not been determined,” because the games are years away, said Robert Accarino, the bid’s director of environment.