| Description |
In 2002, Salt Lake City joined an elite group of cities, in the world, when it hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. This "once in a lifetime" chance gave the city, community, and state of Utah an opportunity to show the world a different side of the community than just the home to the peculiar people known as Mormons. The city took the chance and pulled it off beautifully. Salt Lake not only managed to stage one of the most impressive Olympic Winter Games ever but ended up with an unprecedented amount of profit. But what do you do after the party is over? In an effort to keep the spirit of the Olympics alive, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) wanted to build a legacy park where locals and tourists could visit and relive the thrill and excitement the Olympics. The announcement of the legacy park brought great support from the people, the city, and state government officials but unfortunately, it also brought along all of the politics and personal agendas involved when working with these entities. In the end, the legacy park was merged with a park which was originally planned to showcase just the Olympic cauldron at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah. The following thesis is the story of how the legacy park came to reside at the University of Utah, the planning and design of the park, the operations and maintenance, and the celebrations it hosted in the ten plus years since the Olympic Winter Games. This thesis focuses on whether or not the Olympic Cauldron Park served as a legitimate and appropriate legacy for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games and if that legacy should continue now that original contracts are expiring. Primary research was gathered through local and national newspaper articles, oral interviews, personal experience, and official documents such as contracts between SLOC and the University of Utah. As time and the outdoor elements take their toll on the park, contracts are finished and expansion of the stadium for the Pac 12 Athletic Conference pending, the future of the Olympic Cauldron Park looks bleak. Although there are plans to have some items from the park live on at another Olympic legacy destination, the Olympic Cauldron Park story needed to be told before it ceases to exist. |
