Daley Plaza Preps for Olympic Announcement

IOC makes announcement just before Noon Friday

From the crew unloading fencing to the tourists snapping photos to the workers stringing video cables and phone lines, Chicago is getting ready for Friday.

That's when the International Olympic Committee will announce the bid city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, and no one has any idea how the secret vote may end up.

"We planned either way.  I mean, we have to plan for the best and plan for the worse, and this has been no different," said Olympic organizer Megan McDonald.

Having done an Olympic torch run herself several years ago, Olympic organizer Beth White said she's confident going into the home stretch.

"You know, our most-recent polls show that we're in the 70s in approval ratings in the city of Chicago, and in the 80s in approval rating nation-wide," White said.

With thousands expected in the loop, leaders from police and fire departments on Wednesday did a walk-through of Daley Plaza.

And while there was a small melee Tuesday night, the Picasso in Daley Plaza now wears an Olympic laurel.  A stage and jumbo screens will also be erected in the plaza so Chicagoans can experience the announcement together.  Chicago's reaction will also be broadcast around the world. 

"This one, you can't call it.  I've never been this ingrained in the process and it's almost heart-wrenching," White said.

Many office workers, like those at Deloitte, will take an extended lunch on Friday and will march together wearing the official 2016 orange shirts.

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