Special Olympics also to be special for Lincoln

Thousands of athletes, coaches, family members and fans will converge on the area for the six-day event, which begins July 18.

Many athletes will fly in on corporate jets in 90-second intervals the day before the games start as part of the Cessna Citation Special Olympics Airlift, the largest peacetime civilian airlift in history.

Many will make new friends as they live and eat together at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and compete together at venues around the city. Many will win medals. But if they cannot win, they will be brave in the attempt, as the Special Olympics motto goes.

Many will make memories for life.

But what does it mean for us?

A lot, organizers say. Maybe a lot more than people think.

"Economically, it's the equivalent of five or six (Husker) game days," said Chuck Cooper, CEO of the 2010 Games.

The games are expected to bring more than $40 million into the state's economy. Hotels, restaurants and retailers will benefit. Try getting a hotel room in Lincoln during the games. You might not be able to.

It's big.

It might be Arnold Schwarzenegger big - if he comes. Wife Maria Shriver and her brother, Tim Shriver, might be here, too. Their mom, the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics in 1968. Other dignitaries, celebrities and Olympians will come.

Special Olympics Town will pop up downtown, in and around Pershing Center, with music, food and fun well into the night.

"This is big," says businessman Nick Cusick, CEO of IMSCORP and chairman of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Board. "This is as big as anything that's ever happened to Lincoln. Forget football games. Forget whatever. Just in the total magnitude of the event, the number of days, the number of people, the fly-in, the economic impact -- it's a huge event."

Once the athletes fly out and the visitors leave, organizers say, the legacy for Lincoln and the surrounding area should be big, too.

Breaking it down

* It means a lot for tourism.

If the thousands of people coming here have a good time, they will talk about it back home with their friends.

Maybe they'll say Lincoln was cool. That Nebraska was fun - much more than corn and Cornhuskers. That they found this one local joint with the best burger ever.

"In tourism circles, we say that one good experience is worth 10 more," says Jeff Maul, executive director of the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Either they're going to tell other people about us or come back other times."

The bureau will have information tables set up at all venues to answer questions. Those manning the tables will direct people to local sites, restaurants and special events such as Saltdogs baseball, which is planning three tribute nights: one for athletes, one for family members and one for volunteers.

Or to the "Art Triathlon" at the Haydon Art Center, the Lincoln Arts Council and the Sheldon Museum of Art. Artists will lead athletes, families and local residents in hands-on art projects at each site.

Many out-of-state kids will tour the UNL campus and maybe think about going there, once they see the the university.

* And tourism means a lot to the economy.

Organizers estimate the games will bring $40 million to $50 million into the local and state economy, including $5 million in tax revenue.

Hotels and restaurants probably will be full, says CEO Cooper.

"You could easily see 10,000 people downtown every night."

Hotel rooms in Lincoln are not sold out yet, but they're filling fast. Many people flying into Omaha are staying there.

The chance that the games will return to Lincoln in four years is not very likely, according to Maul of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. But they could come back eight or 12 years down the road - and bring with them another economic punch - if this year is a success.

* It means national exposure.

The "Today" show broadcast live from the 2006 National Games in Ames and Des Moines, Iowa. National media attention came from "NBC Nightly News," The Associated Press and a PBS documentary.

The 2009 World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho, received national media attention from USA Today, Parade magazine and CNN.

"This is the kind of event that will have more of a national audience than most any event that's been to Lincoln," Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler says. "And so, by virtue of that, it affords us an opportunity to demonstrate to a national audience that we are indeed a first-class city that can put on a large event like this, both competently and with a sense of fun.

"We've done that for smaller events, obviously. But this is an opportunity on a different scale."

* It means a lot for the future of the state Special Olympics organization.

After the World Winter Games in Boise last year, Special Olympics Idaho was left with a legacy of 811 new athletes and 209 families.

Many parents of kids with disabilities saw just how exciting and fun Special Olympics can be and signed their children up.

What did this mean to Idaho?

"Wow, so much," says Laurie LaFollette, CEO of Special Olympics Idaho.

The fans in the stands went crazy, she says. They were blown away by the athletic ability of some of the athletes.

"And, boy, our athletes - they know how to play to the crowd, too. How could you just not fall in love?"

After the World Winter Games, LaFollette got a handwritten letter from a woman in her 80s. The woman and her husband had attended the opening ceremony, just for something to do. They were impressed.

"She said she had never seen such joy in her entire life," LaFollette says. "She said tears were streaming down their faces. That is just what our movement has done for people. That letter sums it up. They just decided to come out to the opening ceremony, you know. That was how transforming this was.

"I know our state is transformed."

* It means many people may see the joy of volunteering.

Many of the almost 9,000 volunteers for the National Games will be volunteering for the first time. They might continue to do so for the state Special Olympics or for other causes.

Special Olympics Idaho gained 4,000 new volunteers after the World Winter Games, LaFollette says.

Already in Lincoln, the excitement is in the air at local businesses that are leading the effort to get their people out as volunteers.

Fifty-five Duncan Aviation employees helped with the Cessna Airlift four years ago when the National Games were in Iowa. Doyle Garrett, one of the lead coordinators at Duncan for this year's airlift, remembers how athletes showed him their medals.

"Just the excitement in their faces," he says. "First of all, it's just the excitement of the athletes. I mean, for a lot of them, it'll be the first time they've ever flown in a corporate aircraft, and then to come in and be treated like royalty.

"We knew it'd be fun. But we probably didn't realize it would be as rewarding as it actually was."

Cusick, the CEO of IMSCORP, encouraged his employees to volunteer. The firm is one of the main corporate sponsors for the basketball competition that will be held at Lincoln Southeast.

An employee who volunteers for something, he says, is a better employee, and that improves corporate culture.

* It means downtown will be busy, but no significant traffic delays.

"There would be no reason to avoid downtown," says Greg Topil, traffic engineering specialist for the city's Public Works and Utilities Department. "There really shouldn't be any real traffic delays or any major effects on day-to-day traffic."

That's because the games are spread throughout the city, he says.

Around the university, where the athletes will stay, one lane will be closed on 16th Street and one on 17th Street, from roughly Vine to R streets, on move-in days July 17 and 24. He compared it to traffic flow on move-in and move-out days at the dorms.

Around Pershing Center, home of the Special Olympics Town, N Street will be closed from 16th Street to Centennial Mall July 15-23.

Crowd-wise and parking-wise, Topil says, the downtown area should be similar to what it is during the state basketball tournaments.

StarTran buses will run as scheduled. A shuttle route will be added downtown. Anyone can ride it, but it's free for people with games credentials. The shuttle will run Sunday through Thursday of that week, 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

On July 23, the final night, the shuttle will run until 11 p.m. (A traffic lane will be closed on 16th Street, X to W streets, for loading and unloading.)

UNL campus shuttles won't be affected.

* It means local Special Olympics athletes can get free health screenings.

Doctors, dentists and other medical workers will volunteer as part of the Healthy Athletes program. They'll check athletes' ears, teeth, eyes and feet on the lower level of Pershing. Volunteers also will educate the athletes about health issues.

According to the Special Olympics, people with intellectual disabilities have a 40 percent greater risk for health issues.

Dr. Bob Roesch, a Fremont dentist, volunteered for Healthy Athletes four years ago in Iowa. He saw hundreds of athletes over three days.

"The athletes were very thrilled to be getting this," he says. "It was very, very exciting."

Most of the athletes he saw had had decent oral care. But not all of them.

Roesch, a volunteer again this year, recalls an athlete from Kentucky who had some major dental problems. Through Healthy Athletes, he got hooked up with a dentist in his area for follow-up care.

* It means many people's hearts and brains will expand.

The biggest impact, Idaho's LaFollette says, may come after the games.

Many people may come to understand that these athletes are people and friends, not just disabled. People may learn there's no reason to be afraid to interact with them.

Or to hire them.

Local employers may see what people with intellectual disabilities can do, not what they can't.

One of the goals of Special Olympics is to give athletes confidence, which helps them get hired. According to the organization, 90 percent of people with intellectual disabilities are unemployed, but only 50 percent of Special Olympics athletes are.

"Our hope is that 10,000 to 15,000 people are going to be exposed to Special Olympics athletes," games CEO Cooper says. "And the easiest way to educate someone is when they don't know they're being taught it."

People here could become more aware -- and care more.

"We now have these communities of love and acceptance," LaFollette says. "I think that the general population of our state was changed."

She predicts Lincoln will be a transformed community.

She tells this story from Idaho.

A 16-year-old boy with Down syndrome -- an athlete who was rather new to Special Olympics competition -- hadn't interacted much with students from his school who didn't have disabilities. His self-confidence wasn't so great.

His school was one of the sites The Law Enforcement Torch Run went through on its final leg. His school had a ceremony. He stood on stage with the officers and the torch.

He was the highlight, because he was one of the athletes who would compete in the World Winter Games. He played floor hockey. He got to say a few things about it and about the Special Olympics.

Students cheered. Afterward, some even asked for his autograph.

"He beamed from ear to ear," LaFollette says. "Now he has friends in the school -- friends with and without disabilities -- because he's viewed in a totally different way."

And what did that mean to the boy?

Everything.

Reach Colleen Kenney at 402-473-2655 or ckenney@journalstar.com.