Thomas Spargo’s mission started small.

The Chaska teen invited a few friends on the social-networking giant Facebook to join a group supporting the idea of hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics in the Twin Cities. One hundred people signed up the first day.

From there, the group took off. On Day Two, 100 became 1,000. The next day, 1,000 became 5,000.

Spargo’s goal to reach 15,000 by the end of February was met on Day Four.

By Wednesday morning, Spargo’s group had more than 34,000 supporters and didn’t appear to slowing down on the way to Spargo’s ultimate goal of 500,000 strong.

“I’m not really surprised by how many have signed up as much as how fast they’ve signed up,” Spargo said. Between his Facebook group and a Web site he has created for the potential games, he hopes to gather enough supporters to convince state politicians to revisit their push for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Watching Chicago

The Twin Cities hasn’t had success in bringing the Olympics to the land of 10,000 lakes yet, despite multiple attempts. Minneapolis has bid on the 1932, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1996 games. It finished second for both the 1952 games (held in Helsinki, Finland) and 1996 games (held in Atlanta).

In 2006, Melissa Hortman (DFL – Brooklyn Park/Coon Rapids) introduced legislation to start a task force to examine the benefits of hosting the Olympics in 2020. She said response to her proposal was “way more positive than negative.”

Hortman said a task force met for nine months to work through issues associated with trying to bring the Summer Games to the Twin Cities. But when Chicago was selected as the United States’ bid for the 2016 games, they put their work on the backburner.

“It would be pointless to pursue a bid if Chicago was selected,” she said.

So Spargo’s best chance to see his dreams of a 2020 Summer Olympics in the Twin Cities will rest on the fate of Chicago’s current bid for the 2016 games.

“Hopefully, they don’t get it,” said Spargo. “If it’s not Chicago, the next (summer) games are almost bound to be in the United States, since they won’t have been there since Atlanta.”

This October, Chicago will find out whether or not it has beaten fellow finalists Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro for the opportunity to host the 2016 games.

Spargo has already rationalized why Chicago isn’t the strongest candidate, including the notion that the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, making a return to the North American continent just six years later more unlikely.

Spargo believes Rio is the best choice for the 2016 games. Tokyo loses points in Spargo’s book because the games would be too close to last year’s Beijing games. Madrid loses points because its European counterpart London will host the 2012 games. On the other hand, South America has never hosted the games, making Rio an ideal pick in Spargo’s mind.

Opportunities

Should Chicago’s 2016 bid fail, the Twin Cities would still have its fair share of competition just to be the United State’s choice for a bid. Both Boston and Birmingham, Ala. have already indicated interest in hosting the 2020 games. And Chicago could certainly resubmit its bid and be way ahead of its competitors in terms of planning and preparation.

Beyond the excitement and recognition the Summer Olympics could bring to Minnesota, Spargo is particularly interested in the other benefits the area could see as a result of hosting the games.

“The Mall of America’s second phase would get built,” said Spargo. “And the Vikings would get a new stadium.”

He also believes it would be a good opportunity to expand the metro’s mass transit system.

The idea of receiving federal transportation aid was what attracted Hortman to the idea of bidding for the 2020 Olympics. She said Atlanta received $600 million to improve their transportation system while Utah received $1 billion prior to the games in Salt Lake City. Such dollars could go far to “dramatically speed up the process” of expanding mass transit in the Twin Cities.

Hortman said she would definitely “reignite the conversation” about bidding for the 2020 Olympics if Chicago doesn’t get the games first.

“We’re well-positioned to do it because of all the colleges and universities in the area,” she said, pointing to the numerous athletic facilities already available.

“The only thing we don’t have is an Olympic stadium,” she said. “But the new Gophers’ (TCF Bank) football stadium is expandable to 80,000 seats, which is the current requirement.”

Olympic spirit

However, finding a way to fund the games would be a bigger challenge – especially in a sour economy.

“We would need access to private capital,” Hortman said.

Fundraising would be a challenge worth taking on, though. Hortman said that she got to see first-hand the allure that the Olympics has for people as she campaigned for re-election this past summer.

“You could see it on in the background of every home,” she said.

“There’s a certain feeling when the Olympics are on,” she added. “It’s the world’s best moment when we are all doing something together.”

So what would Spargo like to attend if the Summer Olympics ever do come to the Twin Cities?

“The opening ceremonies,” he answered without hesitation, picking the ever-popular gymnastics as his sporting event of choice.

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer

What: “500,000 for the 2020 Olympics in the Twin Cities”

Where: Facebook group or visit www.mspolympics.com

TELL US: Do you think the Twin Cities could host the Summer Games?