In an effort to make its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee pay off, Colorado Springs is spending more than $21,500 on a temporary mural to promote the city as the home of champions.

The city earned the right to brand itself as the “official hometown” of the USOC and use its world-renowned 5-ring logo under a $42.3 million taxpayer-funded deal that gave the prestigious sports organization a new headquarters, among other things.

The giant mural, which will feature Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo, who graduated from Coronado High School, will be painted on the roof of a building downtown facing Interstate 25.

The City Council, which approved paying for the mural Tuesday on a 7-1 vote, wants it completed before the U.S. Women’s Open, which kicks off July 4.

Councilwoman Lisa Czelatdko, who has been pushing for the city to promote itself as the home of the USOC, called the cost of the mural a small investment.

“I think we need to start having people recognize that we are unique,” she said. “We have the United States Olympic Committee here. It’s a nationally recognized symbol. Let’s utilize it.”

The mural will be painted with an “industrial paint with a special polyurethane coat, which will prevent weathering and fading,” city spokesman John Leavitt said.

“We expect it to last for at least a year in a presentable way,” he told the council.

But Leavitt said the mural might last longer.

“The general consensus is that the paint starts to wear away and just naturally ages and fades and erodes over time, so the best guess that we have is that it will last for at least a year, hopefully more and hopefully a lot longer,” he said.

Councilwoman Angela Dougan voted against paying for the mural. When the council approved paying for the mural on first reading last week, Dougan said it was “heartbreaking” to watch it pass.

“I just cannot support this city spending (up to) $28,000 on a mural for a year on private property,” she said Tuesday.

But Councilman Tim Leigh sided with Czelatdko, calling the mural an investment in the future of Colorado Springs.

“You can’t cut costs to prosperity,” he said. “I know that the honorable Councilmember Dougan and I are not going to agree on this today. But this is a great step forward for the city. It sends a very clear message that, as I’ve said before, we’re open for business.”

Mark Jones, the USOC’s director of communications, said the USOC was excited about the mural.

“We think it’s a creative way for the city to show its association with the USOC and the Olympic movement in general,” he said.

“It’s just one more thing that as a community we can do to tell the story a little bit about who we are and what we’re all about,” he added. “This is obviously an exciting summer, so we’re happy to be part of it. Anything we can do, we will.”

Jones thanked Vladimir Jones, a marketing and advertising agency that created the mural design at a reduced cost, and developer Chuck Murphy, who owns the building where the mural will be painted. Murphy donated the space, Jones said.

FREE ADVERTISING

Lamar Outdoor Advertising is donating “some number of billboards around the city” to promote Colorado Springs as the official hometown of the U.S. Olympic Committee, city spokesman John Leavitt said.

In addition, Greener Corners, which partnered with the city on a recycling program, is letting the city use some of its trash and recycling bins for the same purpose, he said.

“The production cost of $25 per bin is being absorbed by the revenues being created for the city, so there’s no out-of-pocket expense,” he said.

NEW CITY AUDITOR

Denny Nester was sworn in Tuesday as the new city auditor.Nester, who had been the interim city auditor since February 2010, thanked his family and his staff.

“I’m only as good as the people I lead,” he said about his employees.

Nester has been married to his wife, Jill, for 26 years. They have three children: Eric, Todd, and Courtenay.

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