Whatever your feelings are toward the Olympic Games, plans for the upcoming U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum and Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs are pushing forward so far. For starters, the Museum unveiled Diller Scofidio + Renfro's initial design concepts for the 60,000 sq.ft building, set to be built in the Southwest Urban Renewal District of Downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. DS + R is part of the team who won the commission in a competition last fall.

DS + R's design includes 20,000 sq. feet of exhibition space showing off artifacts, media, sports science technology and interactive exhibits that depict the history of the Games and the stories behind famous American Olympic and Paralympic athletes. And of course, the museum will include a theater, gift shop, cafe, and a broadcast studio.

"Inspired by the movement of athletes, the [museum] spirals up and outwards from a central atrium, drawing the public in at its base and propelling them up through the galleries,' Elizabeth Diller described in a statement. "'Expressed in two parts of one body in counterpoise, the building frames a new downtown public plaza below the view of Pike's Peak, and extends a new axis to the America the Beautiful Park West.'"

To date, museum organizers have raised $42 million in their $80 million fundraising campaign. Recently, museum officials finalized a land gift agreement with Nor'wood Development Group, which donated 1.7 acres to the institution. The museum is described as the first of its kind in the U.S.

The museum is slated to break ground in spring 2016 and will open prior to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang.

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