Salt Lake's Olympic legacy lives on in artwork, flagpoles and decorative stones scattered around town.
Small Lake City
By Bryant Heath
With an early-morning announcement and a crowd of a few thousand locals in various stages of tiredness and caffenation outside the City and County building, Salt Lake City was formally awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics this past July. We will now join the esteemed ranks of other bustling metropolitan cities who have put on multiple winter games: St. Moritz, Switzerland (population 4,928), Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (5,669) and Innsbruck, Austria (hey, an actual city!).
At least we are the first two-time Winter Olympics host in the US ... wait, that's not true either?! Lake Placid, New York seems to have beat us with that one way back in 1980.
Ok, so maybe this isn't so historic after all, but the feeling in the valley is ... well ... not quite palpable but more of a resigned acceptance with a bit of self interest mixed in. "How much do you think I can rent my place on AirBnB?" is a common response.
But hey, it's happening! Kind of.
It wouldn't be a true Salt Lake City Olympics without a little bit of drama and evidently some conditions—like having to lobby the U.S. Government to drop an investigation into suspected doping by Chinese swimmers—apply.
But contract contingencies be damned, we're getting the Olympics! Let's get excited!
In some ways, we haven't really gotten over the last Olympics in 2002, as there are vestiges of those games scattered throughout the city. Of course, you have the widely recognizable monuments like the Olympic Cauldron outside Rice-Eccles Stadium or the resurrected Hoberman Arch, newly installed at the airport. But if you look closely, you'll find some other not-so-significant sights that have somehow survived the past 22 years intact.
The most notable are a series of large sandstones that are placed at seemingly random spots, like near the 15th and 15th commercial area and the Ballpark Playground at West Temple and Van Buren Ave. Evidently, this was an initiative of the City Council to provide a bit of a scavenger hunt feel for visitors to traverse the city locating them all.
Similarly, there are a series of flagpoles—most visibly at the entrance to Great Salt Lake State Park—that have the Olympic rings and "Salt Lake 2002" emblazoned on their bases. Although most of these can be found outside notable areas, there is one I've spotted, bizarrely, outside a West Valley City home—a testament to how residents easily succumb to Olympic fever.
But my favorite oddball commemoration comes courtesy of the Taco Time located at 800 South and State Street. This location is already unique due to its gigantic, cactus-shaped sign. But for those patrons who skip the drive-thru and decide to dine inside, they'll be greeted by a large piece of etched metalwork near the entrance, proudly recognizing SLC's 2002 Winter Games.
And if an ornate sign outside a chain taco shop close to downtown Salt Lake City doesn't fully capture the Olympic spirit, I don't know what would—2034, here we go!
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