1960 Winter Olympics - Organization

Organization

At the time the Squaw Valley resort consisted of one chair lift, two rope tows, and a fifty-room lodge. Cushing presented the site as a blank canvas of unspoiled environment, where a world-class ski resort could be constructed. The obscurity of the location was underscored at the closing ceremonies of the 1956 Winter Olympics. The mayor of the current host city traditionally passed a flag to the mayor of the next host city signalling the transfer of the Games. Since Squaw Valley was an unincorporated village it had no city government. John Garland, an IOC member from California, was asked to stand in and received the flag from the mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

After the Games were awarded to Squaw Valley the California Olympic Commission was formed to take the lead in organizing the Games. Venues, an Olympic Village, and infrastructure had to be constructed and expanded in a four-year time frame. With the expansion of roads, bridges, water and electrical capacity the resort of Squaw Valley became the city of Squaw Valley. Hotels, restaurants, administration buildings, a Sheriff's office and a sewage pumping and treatment plant were all constructed to support the influx of visitors for the Games. Organizers wanted the Olympics to be intimate with nearly all of the venues close to one another and the athletes' village. The Blyth Memorial Ice Arena, three outside skating rinks, a 400-meter speed skating oval, and four dormitories to house athletes had to be constructed. One venue deemed impractical to build was the bobsled run. Organizers felt the lack of possible entrants and the high cost of building the run were sufficient deterrents to leave the bobsled events out of the 1960 Olympic program.

Several design innovations and new technologies were used for the 1960 Games. The speed skating, figure skating and ice hockey events were held on artificial ice for the first time in Olympic history. A refrigeration plant capable of heating 4,800 homes had to be built to generate and maintain the ice. The heat generated from the refrigeration plant was used to warm spectators, provide hot water, and melt the snow off of roofs. New timing equipment provided by Longines was installed that used a quartz clock to measure to the hundredths of a second. IBM provided a computer that was capable of tabulating results and printing them in English and French. Blyth arena, site of the opening and closing ceremonies, the figure skating and ice hockey competitions, was built with a 22 in (56 cm) gap in the roof, which would slide closed as the weather cooled and the cables supporting the roof contracted.

Funding for Cushings initial bid to the IOC came from the California Legislature and investors in the "Squaw Valley Development Company" – owners of the existing resort. To fund the construction the organizers turned to the federal government for assistance. Squaw Valley was the first Games in the United States to receive federal funding; providing around a quarter of the $80 million required to host the event. The monies were used to build the sports arena and provide military support during the Games. Further funding was secured from private sponsorships and from the State of California. Governor Knight and his successor Edmund "Pat" Brown remained behind the project, seeing it as a means to showcase the state of California to the world.