Completed Rio Olympics Course to Have Private Operator


The recently completed golf course for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics will be run by a private operator. According to Bloomberg News, the Rio de Janeiro government will contract with a company to run the facility to avoid using taxpayer money.

In an interview last Friday with Bloomberg reporter David Biller, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said the winning bidder will have a 10-year contract that could be extended for the same period.

"I'm not going to spend city money cutting that grass," Paes told Biller. "If it depends on me, that grass is going to grow high after the Olympics. I would never spend city money taking care of a golf course."

The Gil Hanse-designed course - which cost $23 million in site acquisition, legal fees, design and construction - was completed in December. All that's left is for the turf to grow in advance of some "test tournaments" prior to next summer's Games, when golf will be played as an Olympic event for the first time in 112 years.

The project has been plagued by protests throughout its development. According to Biller, nearby residents in the Terreirao slum have tapped into a manmade canal providing non-potable irrigation water for the course as they often go without drinking water.

One protest sign outside the course read, "There's water for golf, but not the population."

Despite the opposition, Mayor Paes said the golf course - which will be opened for public play after the Games - will be a legacy for Rio citizens. "There are some things that you need to do to get the Olympics, things that you would never do, and I would never do a golf course," he told Biller.

"I would never do a river for guys to do canoe slalom. There are probably 10 guys in Brazil doing that, and one in Rio, but these are the things you need to do because of the Olympics."

For Biller’s full article, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-26/rio-golf-course-drawing-protests-to-be-privately-run-mayor-says.html.