Just after my family’s move to Atlanta, when it came time to create a change-of-address card, we went to Centennial Olympic Park.
And it was there, in front of the statue of the founder of the modern Olympic Games Pierre de Coubertin, that we took a family picture for the cover.
I share that short anecdote because nothing captures a positive reflection of Atlanta more than its image as the Olympics city.
(I know I risk offending Civil War buffs and fans of “Gone with the Wind,” but even in Ohio — Gen. Sherman’s home state and mine, too — Atlanta’s known for its Olympic Games.)
That three-week period in 1996 was Atlanta’s crowning achievement, and it was almost precisely 21 years ago that our city — a prohibitive long shot — was awarded the Games.
Could we pull it off again?
Would metro Atlanta be capable of coming together to both win the bid and host another Olympics?
As the metro region faces a list of challenges, it’s worth asking whether it can muster the same unity that landed the Olympics and use it to solve any number of looming issues, transportation and water chief among them.
As discussions — and acrimony — swirl around these and other matters, at times it seems impossible that we were ever able to rally around an issue as overwhelming as winning and hosting the Olympic Games.
So I asked three key figures in the Olympics efforts — by no means an exhaustive survey — how they’d answer the question.
Their views might surprise you. These members of the group that ran the Olympics — the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) — for the most part expressed optimism about Atlanta’s ability to overcome its challenges:
● A.W. “Bill” Dahlberg, former CEO of Southern Co.
● A.D. Frazier, COO of ACOG.
● Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Each cited the need for leadership on any big issue.
Frazier cautioned against the tendency to look to politicians for leadership, noting that government was actually a little late to rallying behind the Olympic bid.
“It’s difficult to find inspirational leadership in the political realm,” he said, especially in today’s environment.
But that doesn’t mean leadership can’t emerge elsewhere for important issues, as it did for the Olympics when companies and private citizens stepped up.
“They put forth a superhuman effort,” Frazier said, noting the tens of thousands of volunteers and the millions of dollars local companies helped provide.
Young believes Atlanta can rally around a cause it decides is important, and he noted its long history of doing so.
“We still have that kind of large, spirited citizenry,” he said. “We can do anything we want to do.”
Today’s divisive political climate doesn’t discourage him.
“There are some things where we’re always going to disagree,” he said.
And so the question really isn’t whether Atlanta would try to land the Olympics again. But rather, can we come together to overcome current challenges?
Dahlberg’s been around Atlanta for a long time and says he’s “very proud” of the Olympic legacy, including the park. Perhaps, he said, it requires focusing on one important thing at a time.
“Right now in Atlanta we’re working on many problems in many forums,” he said. “That’s hard to do.”
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