After Olympics, what's next for Turin?
Life in Italian Alps will switch focus to tourism, soccer, balanced economy
 | Slide show |
 |
TURIN, Italy - As if these Olympics weren’t enough, the city is gearing up for another Olympics in May. The chess Olympics!
The brain-over-brawn games.
Some 2,300 players and coaches from about 150 countries will converge on what today is still the Olympic speedskating venue for two weeks of matches.
The chess tournament is the first in a series of events planned to keep the city busy after the Winter Games, as it continues to overhaul its industrial past and goes after the postmodern dream of becoming a cultural, tourist and commercial hub.
“The atmosphere of the Olympics has spread across the city, we must avoid a negative effect on daily life once they are over,” Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino said.
Most of the Turin ice venues and Olympic buildings will be used as multipurpose structures, while sports venues and extra housing in the mountains will increase the capacity and appeal of the Alpine resorts known as the “Via Lattea” or Milky Way.
Soccer will gobble up attention once more, with top team Juventus likely sharing the Olympic stadium with Torino — the city’s other club— while its own Stadio Delle Alpi is remodeled.
|
“I imagine a city that is not based on one central activity, Fiat or industry, but one in which all economic activities are balanced,” Chiamparino said at a news conference last week.
Last month Fiat posted a net profit for the full year for the first time since 2000, but the city is still eager to branch-out into tourism and upscale commercial activities.
Initial estimates say that 1.5 million tourists have stayed at least one night in Turin during the Olympics, and that doesn’t count visitors who came for a day trip, said Elda Tessore, the city’s councilwoman for the games.
Comparing that to 2.5 million visitors in the whole of 2005, Tessore said the numbers prove the Olympics have put Turin on the map.
“Before, no one in the world knew where Turin was,” Tessore told The Associated Press. “We had to say: think of Europe ... northern Italy ... close to Milan ... But now we can just say: Torino!”
The city aims to have a stable 4 million yearly visitors by 2011, Tessore said.
Things will also hopefully look up in the mountains, where former media and athletes’ villages will await new guests.
|
Back in Turin, the emphasis is expected to be more on culture and on showcasing Italian products. That would include a chocolate festival in March and a September musical festival, this year featuring Vivaldi and Mozart with the Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra.
Some 800 apartments in the Olympic village in Turin will help relieve the high demand for public housing. The seven media villages will become university dorms or be sold on the market — partly to cover any debts left by the organizing committee.
Ultimately the future of Turin will depend on its people’s spirit, Tessore said, recalling the hundreds of thousands of locals who packed downtown streets to celebrate the games.
“The pride and joy that the we have felt are a jolt of energy that will live on,” she said. “After the Fiat crisis there was an acceptance of decline. The Olympics have given us a much-needed wake-up call.”
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
- Rate Story:
LowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM WINTER OLYMPICS |
 Winter Olympics Section Front |
| Add Winter Olympics headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links