The potholes should be fixed. The protesters are ready. Our former Governor could be indicted. And we've been handed a spring snow storm. What could possibly say Chicago is the city that works to the IOC any better as it trys to win the 2016 Olympic games?
This week, the International Olympic Committee delegation will inspect the city to determine if Chicago should be awarded the games instead of Rio de Janeiro, Madrid or Tokyo. Chicago is the first stop of the IOC's white-gloved tour, which follows meetings this past week in Denver where each city had a 20-minute presentation.
Chicago officials have been busily rehearsing, paving, practicing, painting and planting. Officials are, for example, making sure the IOC members see two Millennium Park fountains in all their glory, just they way they are when they become one of the city's top summertime attractions.
"We usually wait until April 15 but the water will be turned on" when the committee arrives, said Jill Hurwitz, cultural affairs department spokeswoman.
Around the city, community groups and businesses have planted flowers in parks and planters along streets. And in this season of gaping potholes, work crews have been laying down fresh asphalt in Washington Park, where the Olympic stadium would be built.
In Denver last week, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro all talked specifically about the slow global economy as part of the presentations to the IOC members. Chicago bid leader Pat Ryan said he would go into detail about the city's economic plan during this week's visit.
Chicago plans an Olympics with 90 percent of the athletes within 15 minutes of their competition venues, all based around Lake Michigan.
Chicago organizers say 1,500 people are playing some role in the visit. When the IOC arrives at Soldier Field, children will be playing soccer. When they go to Lincoln Park, they may not see the yet-to-be-built tennis center, but they will see people playing tennis.
"And there are other locations along the tour where we will bring the venue to life in some way," said Lori Igleski, Chicago 2016 director of events, volunteers and accommodations.
One of the messages organizers want to drive home is that Chicago's plan is to host an environmentally friendly games, starting with the use of a fleet of alternatively fueled vehicles that includes an electric bus and a hybrid bus the IOC will take on the venue tour.
The IOC is also going to see something that has been part of the landscape here for as long as anyone can remember: Protests.
"I think a lot of people will be trying to take advantage of this moment for a variety of reasons, some legitimate and some not," said Jitu Brown of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization.
Brown said the group believes that building the Olympic Village and other venues on the city's South Side will speed the gentrification that is already displacing thousands of low- and middle-income residents.
A group calling itself "No Games Chicago" says the city should be spending money on schools and housing, not the Olympic Games. The group plans a Thursday rally. And the head of the police officers' union says there may be picketing to show their anger about the status of contract negotiations.
Chicago 2016 President Lori Healey said organizers won't duck the issues.
If IOC members ask about picketing police officers, organizers will "tell them the truth, that they're out there because they have an issue with their contract (and) it's not directly related to 2016," she said. "That this is a city where people express their opinions."
