CHICAGO (AP) – A lot was left to the imagination of U.S. Olympic Committee officials who toured the city Wednesday, assessing possible 2016 Summer Olympics venue sites on a cold, gray day.

They got a bird’s-eye view of a proposed athletes’ village, marked by orange balloons, from a high-rise hotel. And the footprint of a proposed 80,000-seat stadium was marked out in a snow-covered park with the flags of the countries represented in the International Olympic Committee.

“We were very impressed with the possibilities that this city holds for the Games and the Olympic movement,” said Jim Scherr, USOC chief executive officer. He added the focus around the downtown lakefront would offer an “unparalleled” experience for athletes and spectators.

Chicago is competing with Los Angeles to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the USOC will decide April 14. The IOC won’t pick a host city until 2009, and other bidders are expected to include Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome and Tokyo.

An 11-member USOC inspection team wrapped up its two-day Chicago visit Wednesday; officials visited Los Angeles last week.

“While our final decision will be based on the city with the best chance of winning internationally, either city is capable of hosting the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” USOC vice president Bob Ctvrtlik said.

The tour got off to an unexpected start when a protester with a megaphone heckled Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

and USOC members as they boarded a bus at a downtown hotel. The demonstrator, Willie “J.R.” Fleming of the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, said about 20 demonstrators later gathered at the park where the Olympic stadium would be built but left because of police.

The first stop on the tour was the downtown McCormick Place convention center, which would host the media, along with fencing, table tennis, rhythmic gymnastics and judo competitions. Next was a visit to the convention center’s hotel where a 33rd-floor room offered an unobstructed view of the lakefront athletes’ village site.

Chicago has touted the proximity of the $1.1 billion village to the venues as a chief selling point for why it should be chosen over Los Angeles. But Los Angeles has touted itself as more ready to host the games because – unlike Chicago – most of its venues already are built. This would be the third Olympics for Los Angeles, which played host in 1932 and 1984.

After the downtown convention center, the tour headed south about five miles through city neighborhoods to the historic South Side park that would house a $366 million, 80,000-seat temporary Olympic stadium.

Ctvrtlik said some questions remain about the city’s stadium plan. Chicago, like Los Angeles, has until March 31 to submit additional information to the USOC.

The USOC also is waiting to see Chicago’s final financial guarantee package.

“We definitely want the government to have some skin in the game,” Ctvrtlik said.

Daley, who has said he won’t burden local taxpayers, said the city is working on a financial guarantee with public and private entities, but he declined to provide more details. “We’ll be coming up with a plan very shortly,” he said.

From the stadium site, it was back north to downtown and past the village site to a piece of lakefront land that would host BMX and track cycling and beach volleyball. A quick trip up the city’s iconic Lake Shore Drive gave officials a drive-by look at the sites for archery, rowing, the triathlon, canoeing and kayaking slalom.

“It’s been a real pleasure to show off Chicago,” Daley said.