May 3 - A ribbon cutting ceremony has been held today at the United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) new multi-million dollar headquarters in Colorado Springs.


The project is part of a controversial $53 million (£35 million) deal that the USOC struck with the city in order to stay there.

The deal means that the USOC will stay in Colorado Springs for the next 30 years.

The USOC leadership views the move as an important symbolic moment for an organisation that has been through a difficult period recently.

The last 14 months have seen the departure of two chief executives, strained international relations and Chicago's embarrassment in the quest to host the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

Scott Blackmun, the chief executive of the USOC, said: "If anything, this is symbolic of the fact that things have settled down.

"We're headed in a very positive direction, people are excited, people are optimistic."

The building, expanded to six stories and 126,000 square feet for the USOC, once served as the first headquarters for the local newspaper.

It was also the first office of General William Jackson Palmer, a Civil War colonel who later founded Colorado Springs.

The deal for the USOC has been accompanied by plenty of controversy, including the developer LandCo, filing a lawsuit against the USOC and the city of Colorado Springs over the contract.

LandCo settled with the USOC and  the city bought the building from LandCo in exchange for the lawsuit to be dropped.


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November 2009: Colorado banks $13 million for USOC to build Olympic Training Centre
August 2009: USOC reach deal to stay in Colorado Springs