Michael Reese Hospital to be Site of Olympic Village

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 8, 2008 10:30PM

Lest we should forget amongst talk of birth certificates, factory sit-ins, and clemency, the City of Chicago is still competing for the 2016 Summer Olympics and supporters got a boost today when Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan announced a deal with the property owner of Michael Reese Hospital has been restructured such that both parties can agree, meaning the proposed Olympic Village will go up on the site.

Under the new plan, Medline’s “charitable contribribution” will rise to $32.5 million. And instead the overall purchase price will rise by $1 million — to $86 million.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to reach a final agreement, and we appreciate Medline’s flexibility in structuring a transaction which works for our needs,” Ryan said in a press release.

“Their charitable contribution clearly indicates that they share in our vision for how the Village development can provide long-term benefits to the city, such as affordable housing, new job development and the creation of a new, environmentally advanced community in the city. For that, we thank them.”

Ryan has previously said that we'll get to see the final, official plans for the Games before the end of the year. Awesome. It's good to know officials have found a unicorn that poops gold so they have enough money because we were beginning to worry that they might not be able to afford the Olympics. Hooray!