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August 25, 2004 10:42 pm

After Games, no firm plans for venues

By KEVIN JOHNSON

USA TODAY

ATHENS, Greece - With just four days remaining until the close of the Olympic Games, there is no public plan for the continued use of the sprawling network of costly venues, a government spokesman acknowledged Wednesday.

Many of the venues, which have won praise as architectural and athletic marvels, were built from scratch as part of the multibillion-dollar Olympic budget.

But government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said Greece's former ruling socialist party, responsible for much of Olympic preparations until its ouster this spring, left no plans for the use of the facilities after the flame is extinguished Sunday night.

``Work is underway from zilch, zero,'' Roussopoulos said, referring to the previous administration's post-Olympic preparations.

Roussopoulos said the current government was considering a number of ``ideas and proposals.'' But he offered no details.

``The Olympic venues are part of the urban fabric of Athens,'' he said. ``Contacts have been made for use of these (facilities),'' he said, adding that a formal plan would not be offered until after the Games.

For Greece, the sparkling new sports venues and the favorable international reviews have become a major source of national pride, especially after months of speculation that the facilities would not be completed in time for opening ceremonies.

Nassos Alevras, the former deputy cultural minister who oversaw much of the preparations in the previous administration, said much thought was given to the future use of the so-called Olympic estate. He said a study outlining a range of options was turned over to the conservative government during last spring's transition.

Some of those proposals, he said, called for ``downsizing'' an elaborate seaside complex that now includes baseball, softball, field hockey and man-made canoe and kayaking venues.

``I don't know why they would say there isn't a plan,'' Alevras said. ``There are a lot of possibilities.'' He said there have been longstanding disagreements, however, over how much management authority for the properties should be ceded to private companies and how much should remain under government control.

Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis said in an interview earlier this week that some of the venues probably would be closed. Support of the remaining venues likely would require Athens and Greece to market the region as a new amateur sports mecca.

Putting sports venues to good use after the Games is a biennial challenge, even in cities where the Olympics were embraced with both more enthusiasm and deeper pockets.

Profits from the last Olympiad, the Salt Lake Winter Games in 2002, left a $76 million endowment to operate Utah's speedskating oval, the cross-country skiing and biathlon course, and the central Olympic park with bobsled track, ski-jump hill and other facilities for public use.

But Olympic Parks of Utah, operator of the ``legacy'' venues, faced a $1.6 million shortfall this year. It had to cut staff, suspend a training program for aspiring world-class speedskaters and trim other expenses.

``Some of these venues, we know we can support them,'' Bakoyannis said. ``Some of these venues will have to go away. And some ... will need a lot of work to keep them up.''

- (Contributing: Patrick O'Driscoll of USA TODAY)

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