The Colorado Springs Gazette published the article, USOC Headquarters No ‘Sideshow Freak’, on Saturday, October 10 about the United States Olympic Committee building in downtown Colorado Springs. One year ago, Colorado Springs made a multi-million dollar agreement with the United States Olympic Committee to keep the organization (and assist in keeping the other Olympic-related jobs) in Colorado Springs. As a part of the agreement with the USOC, Colorado Springs was permitted to use the Olympic Rings for marketing purposes. The new sign on top of the downtown USOC building is definitely an improvement to the recognition of having the USOC in Colorado Springs and certainly having the presence downtown only assists with the exposure.
A subtle Olympic Ring emblem located throughout downtown Colorado Springs would bring awareness of our Olympic assets.
The Olympic Rings.
As a resident and business owner in Colorado Springs, I want to see more happen in getting the rings in prominent view. As a City, we should have the Olympic Rings featured at a minimum in our major tourist corridors and urban settings, (Downtown Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City, and directional signage and Colorado Springs monument signage). I envision our street signage in downtown and Old Colorado City with a distinctive color palette (red, white & blue) with the Olympic Rings prominently displayed on each. Our sidewalks could have a USOC medallion located along the walks. There are many subtle ways to incorporate the logo into the city that would make a major difference for awareness to the visitors who come to our city.
In order for Colorado Springs to once again prosper, additional jobs must be created and additional residents must be captured. We need to be able to show the visitors of Colorado Springs that we are a beautiful city with a lot to offer. The publicity that the city has received in recent years is an embarrassment and unfortunately it has seemingly aided the recession in a city that was anticipated to be one of the places that would actually fare the best when the recession hit. The notion at the time was that our military presence could assist Colorado Springs in sustaining our economy, however even having this great asset we still appear to be the hardest hit in the state of Colorado.
As a City, we need to look back to our current assets and capitalize on them to market our city; we can start by incorporating the rings into our eroding infrastructure. After all, this was a part of the multi-million dollar agreement from one year ago.