Preparations For Summer Olympics Must Pick Up Speed

Welcome back to the Sunstone Way. 

There’s a lot of excitement in Long Beach these days as preparations begin in earnest for the 2028 Summer Olympics. At last count, there will be 11 sporting events in Long Beach, and another eight events a month later during the Paralympic Games. 

Athletes and supporters from around the world will be here for those games, and Long Beach will be front and center on around-the-clock television coverage worldwide. 

Those events don’t just happen on Long Beach playgrounds and beaches. And the city wants to shine when a large portion of the millions of spectators expected come to watch events including beach volleyball, rowing, wind surfing, rock climbing and more. 

It’s going to take preparation to be ready. 

Elevate ‘28 

City officials began planning in 2023, shortly after it was announced that Los Angeles would host the 2028 Olympics, and would partner with Long Beach. The City Council approved a five-year infrastructure investment plan they call Elevate ’28. 

That original plan was estimated to cost $933 million. Of that, $210 million was earmarked for Olympics-specific projects like the temporary pools to host water polo and artistic swimming. Those figures remain in flux as plans for specific sports change and the city budget adjusts. 

I think it is very forward-thinking of the city to expect to spend three times more on city amenities than it spends on Olympics sports venues. Those venues ultimately will benefit city residents too, but the broader effort to prepare to host the world will be a boon for us all. 

Shifting Circumstances 

A lot can happen in two years – especially in the fast-moving world we live in today. There is more certainty today about what specific sports Long Beach will host – windsurfing and kitesurfing, but not traditional sailing, for example. The addition of rock climbing requires building a complete venue, as is the case with beach volleyball – a stadium on the sand. 

Financial conditions famously fluctuate over time, and this period is no different. A sense of uncertainty continues to characterize financial markets. Consumer spending directly impacts many of the city’s expected funding sources, too. Sales taxes lead the funding list (Long Beach’s Measure A), and the trade atmosphere surely will impact expected support from the Port of Long Beach, among other sources. 

Costs also are susceptible to change. A prime example is the proposed new Belmont Beach Aquatic Center. 

This oceanside swimming complex has been in the works for more than a decade, after the historic Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool was closed and torn down for fear of seismic danger. While the new center would not host any Olympic events, it is a critical component of related Elevate ’28 projects. 

It appeared earlier this year that the aquatics center would finally begin construction. But the city only received one bid, and it was higher than the construction budget by nearly a third – $60 million versus the $42.5 million available. The primary source of funding for the project is/was supposed to be the city’s Tidelands Fund oil revenue, which is drying up. 

Other major infrastructure projects are likely to face the same sort of inflation. 

Here To Help 

There may be another way to get some of these projects done. It’s called a Public-Private Partnership (P3) for infrastructure financing. The city of Long Beach is very familiar with the approach. That’s how the Civic Center – including a new City Hall, a new Main Library and a new state-of-the-art park – got done. 

If anything, the city’s financial situation when the Civic Center proposal began was worse than it is today. But the need was immediate (the old City Hall was at risk of major damage during an earthquake). 

Creative thinking by city officials and partners in the private sector got the job done.  

Every P3 project is different, but it seems to me that there are opportunities waiting for exploration in the Elevate ’28 plan – and not just for an aquatics center.  

There is, or should be, a sense of urgency. In the major construction world, three years pass in the blink of an eye. And I think we can be certain that the powers that be won’t delay the Summer Olympics to wait for Long Beach to get its preparations done. 

It is time to think out of the box and get things done. After all, that’s The Sunstone Way! 

And remember, always be a Sunstone.