Last February, former Detroit mayor David Bing turned down the United States Olympic committee's invitation to bid on hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics. With the city's financial troubles, his hesitation was understandable. But there was a time when Detroit was desperate to host the games. The Detroit of the late 1960’s was very different than the city we know today.That was then Detroit mayor Jerome Cavanagh, in a 1965 promotional video in support of the motor city’s 1968 bid for the summer olympics. While Detroit didn’t end up hosting the games, it did have plans drawn up to be implemented if it was selected. They included new state of the art facilities, as well as renovated Detroit landmarks.
Paul Beshouri is the Editor of Curbed Detroit. He wanted to know what Detroit would have looked like if they had hosted the games. Beshouri says Detroit was the fifth largest city in the country at the time of the bid for the 1968 Olympics.