ACOG President/CEO Billy Payne gave the U.S. Olympic
Congress an update on the preparations of the '96 games. Payne:
"We are precisely on the exact schedule that we first articulated
some three years ago with respect to our construction plan."
Payne told participants at the Congress in Nashville that nine
sports facilities are being built at a cost of $450M. He said
the new structures will be completed "months in advance" of the
Olympics. In terms of raising $1.6B from the private sector for
the games, Payne said the money has been coming in, "but at a
slower rate than the committee had expected. However, he expects
the budget to be met." Payne also said that ACOG "expects to
have a modest surplus, which he prefers to call a contingency
fund," of about $60M after the Olympics. The L.A. Games reported
a surplus of $260M after their Games in '84. Payne expects the
Games to be twice as large as the L.A. Games, with more than 200
countries and territories from around the world participating
(Athelia Knight, WASHINGTON POST, 11/11).
