The 2002 Winter Olympic cauldron was extinguished on Feb. 24 after a stunning 17 days in Salt Lake City, Park City and the wider region.
By the next day there was already talk of the state at some point hosting a second Games. And by the one-year anniversary, in 2003, hopes had started for a return of the Games as early as 2018.
“Within days of the Olympics ending I had so many people coming up and saying, ‘That was fun. When can we do it again?'” the late Park City Councilor Candy Erickson said at the first anniversary of the Games of 2002.
The second Winter Olympic era that so many have desired ever since then likely will begin within days. The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday is widely expected to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City during meetings in Paris on the eve of the Summer Olympics in the French capital.
It will be a momentous day in the years of efforts to return the Games to the state. The selection would cap the bidding and move the work into an organizing stage that would stretch for nearly a decade. The Park City area, with three competition venues identified on the concept map, is critical to the plans for a second Games, following a similarly important role in 2002.
Park City leaders have been intent on ensuring the municipal government has influence in the Olympic discussions after a spate of early conflict between City Hall and the Games organizers in the 2002 era. The leaders also appear to acknowledge the sheer volume of work that awaits, even if they may not yet understand how encompassing the effort may become.
It is impossible to predict with certainty how the next 10 years will unfold as Park City prepares for the Games, stages the event and then enters another post-Olympic era. But enough was learned during the efforts leading up to 2002 to start to consider, at least on a broad scale, what will need to be accomplished and along what sort of schedule.
The planning for 2034 will not mirror the work that went into the Games in 2002, but the effort of 20-plus years ago provides numerous guideposts for the next decade. The mere fact that the award of the event in 2034 will be made earlier in the Games cycle than for 2002 will influence the preparation timeline. There will be negotiations between City Hall and an organizing committee, staffing decisions at the Marsac Building, and talks about the role Main Street will play in a Games. There will also be a series of City Hall elections before the Games that could upend the Marsac Building roster.
The timeline that follows, partially based on the schedule of the work prior to the Games of 2002, provides an overview of what the next 10 years could entail as the community readies for the Olympics. Some entries on the timeline may never come to fruition should leaders opt for another route in the preparations, while other entries are fixed on the political and Games calendars. There will be other important tasks, such as decisions regarding infrastructure upgrades that may be funded with Games-related monies, but here are some of the central events and issues that could mark a second Games era:
• The 2025 Park City election, November: The Park City election in 2025 will be the first held during the second Winter Olympic era and the first of five prior to the Games of 2034. Voters will decide the mayor’s office and two seats on the Park City Council. The winners will be sworn into office in early 2026 for four-year terms that end in early 2030. The Games will likely be a prominent campaign issue with the candidates addressing their vision for the planning and staging of the event and, possibly, describing their hopes for the post-Olympic era.
• The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February: The Games in Milan will offer just one of two opportunities for Park City officials to observe a Winter Olympics prior to 2034, and City Hall will likely send a delegation to Italy on a fact-finding mission. It’s also likely the delegation would involve more than just the one person from City Hall — Mayor Nann Worel — who is scheduled to attend the Summer Olympics in Paris and International Olympic Committee meetings on the eve of the Games as the 2034 event is awarded to the state. The municipal government by the time of the Games in Milan could be prepared to send staffers to begin learning about operational matters.
• The 2027 Park City election, November: The Park City election in 2027 will involve three seats on the City Council, with the winners being sworn into office in early 2028 for four-year terms ending in early 2032. The three members of the City Council decided on Election Day in 2027 will have great influence on the municipal plans for the Games of 2034, since much of the work will occur during the term. By the time the term ends in early 2032 — two years before the Games — City Hall will likely have begun to implement much of the plan for the Olympics. The Games could be a central issue in the contest.
• The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, July: The Games in 2028 will be City Hall’s only chance to study a domestic Olympics prior to 2034, and officials would be expected to seize upon that opportunity, particularly with the location. Although a Summer Olympics is of far greater scale than a Winter Olympics, a Games in July in Southern California will offer lessons to officials in Park City readying for a Games in February in Utah. A contingent from City Hall would be interested in observing the transportation network, researching outlying places with competition venues, and learning about business trends.
• The potential City Hall hiring of a director of Olympic planning, mid-2029: The Park City leaders who will plan for the Games of 2034 will, with near certainty, study the work from 2002 and use the earlier era as a guide at some level. One of the important moves made by the elected officials in office then was to create a staff position to lead the municipal effort. The mid-1997 tapping of Frank Bell as the director of Olympic planning was seen as pivotal for Park City. The position was dedicated to the preparations at a time when numerous other municipal staffers were busy with their regular duties while also tasked with Games-related assignments. He had served as the chief of police and brought the thinking of a law enforcement officer to the role.
• The 2029 Park City election, November: The Park City election in 2029, with the mayor’s office and two City Council seats to be decided, will be critical to the Winter Olympic efforts, and the campaign would be expected to reflect the urgency. The winners will take office in early 2030 for four-year terms that end in January of 2034, a month before the opening of the Games. The mayor and two members of the City Council who win on Election Day will have roles guiding during core years of planning for the Olympics. There will be staffing, budgetary and operational matters addressed during the four-year terms. Park City will have begun to implement the Games plan by the end of the terms.
• The potential drafting of a municipal master plan for the Games, early 2030: The importance during the earlier Games era of creating an Olympic master plan will undoubtedly be recognized as Park City prepares for 2034. The document was essentially the foundation for the municipal Olympic work plan, covering numerous topics officials would address as the Games approached. It presented guiding principles, outlined timelines, touched on budget implications and posed questions leaders needed to answer during their decision making. The elected officials in the current Olympic era could opt for a route other than the creation of such a sweeping document, but a municipal government typically desires to have a written guide as it addresses something as large and prominent as an Olympics. There is the possibility of City Hall breaking with the earlier era, though, regarding the timing of the creation of a master plan or similar step as a result of the awarding of the Games nearly 10 years prior to the event. Officials could draft a document several years earlier in an Olympic era than their predecessors did, since the Games of 2002 were awarded less than seven years prior to opening ceremonies.
• The 2030 Winter Olympics, February: The Games of 2030 will be the final opportunity for Park City officials to observe the staging of a Winter Olympics prior to 2034. The municipal government would likely send a mission to these Games for research. The municipal plans for 2034 will not have been fully implemented, and there would be possible alterations. The closing of the Games in 2030 will also bring wider attention to the Olympics in 2034, since they will be the next winter event.
• The ‘We’re next’ phase, starting in spring 2030: As the Olympic family moves on from the Games of 2030, there will likely be broadened interest in the efforts for 2034 with less than four years to go before opening ceremonies in Salt Lake City. At this point many Olympic sponsors, national Olympic committees and others could be ready to finalize their plans for Park City. Some may have already done so by the spring of 2030 and others may not show interest until closer to 2034, but the period after the Games of 2030 will likely bring a noticeable uptick in activity. Public and private space for temporary setups, such as national Olympic committee houses designed to celebrate the accomplishments of a country’s athletes, will be at a premium. Deals for public space would be known since they would involve City Hall, but those for spaces under the control of the private sector may be negotiated without publicity in many cases.
• The potential drafting of a municipal Olympic budget, 2031: The elected officials in spring 2031 will hold the budget talks for the municipal fiscal year that runs from mid-2031 until mid-2032. That year’s financial discussions will offer an opportune time to craft a budget plan for the final years of Olympic preparations as well as the Games themselves. The dollar figures for an Olympic budget could run into the low eight digits on the expense and revenue sides. During the budget discussions, City Hall will consider what services the municipal government provides during the Games, and at what level, and discuss the necessary revenues to offset any increased services. It could be a delicate task since Parkites will likely want the leaders to guard against any Games-related overruns that would need to be addressed afterward.
• The 2031 Park City election, November: The Park City election in 2031, when three City Council seats will be on the ballot, will be of special note since it will be the first involving terms that cover the Games of 2034. The people who win the three seats will be sworn into office in January 2032 for four-year terms that straddle the pre-Games and post-Games eras. They will have a role in crafting the final plans for the Winter Olympics, the winding down of the Games era after closing ceremonies, and then the inevitable community conversation about Park City’s post-Games future. It is a scenario that could draw candidates of differing stripes and with a wide range of ideas for Park City beyond the Games.
• The negotiations between City Hall and an Olympic organizing committee, ongoing: It is not clear what sort of timeline the municipal government and an Olympic organizing committee will seek as they engage in negotiations about an expansive agreement covering the roles and responsibilities of each side during a Games. The earlier awarding of the Winter Olympics of 2034 could have ramifications for the schedule of the negotiations since the sides will have additional time before the opening of the Games. The approval of an agreement is one of the essential pre-Games tasks for Park City leaders since the document will effectively define the relationship between the municipal government and an organizing committee.
• The status of Main Street for the Games, 2032: One of the aspects of the plans for the Olympics in 2002 — the decision to turn Main Street into a pedestrian-only celebration zone — will be heavily studied as decisions are made about the shopping, dining and entertainment strip for the Games in 2034. Broad support for a similar setup in 2034 is likely after the successes in 2002. Main Street became one of the most popular places to celebrate the Games as international crowds of winter-sports fans arrived each day to enjoy the mountain-town atmosphere. There were temporary corporate activations up and down Main Street, an Olympic pin trading area, the Budweiser Clydesdales and fireworks. If the municipal government desires a similar setup, there would be important decisions to be made. A funding mechanism would need to be identified for a Main Street celebration zone and discussions would be held about the specific activations. The impacts on traffic, transportation, parking and Old Town access would need to be addressed.
• The 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane, Australia, in July and August: The Games of 2032 will be the final Olympics before the event in 2034, providing another opportunity for Park City officials to study the mechanics of the event. Many of the plans for the Games of 2034 will likely have been drafted by the time the event in Brisbane opens, but City Hall could want a presence there nonetheless since another Olympics would provide a new set of observations that could influence the last phase of preparations. During the earlier Olympic era, a municipal mission to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney — the final Games before 2002 — helped shape the plans for the Main Street celebration zone, as an example.
• The 2033 Park City election, November: The City Hall election in 2033, with the mayor’s office and two City Council seats on the ballot, will be held just three months prior to the opening of the Games in February timing that will add to the political tensions. The winners will be sworn into office in the weeks before opening ceremonies. The Olympic preparations will be underway across the community throughout the fall campaign season, and the candidates will be thrust into the final months of the Games efforts. It seems unlikely any newcomers to the mayor’s office or City Council in early 2034 would exert great influence on the plans for the Games with the operational phase underway by the time they are seated. They will be some of the key figures, however, as City Hall finishes the Olympic era early in their terms and then the community debates the post-Games direction of Park City.
• The building of an Olympics, fall of 2033: Park City will be transformed in the months before the beginning of the Games, as the construction of temporary installations commences. Large stadiums will be built at the Park City-side base of Park City Mountain and the Snow Park base at Deer Valley. It could be shocking to some to witness projects under construction as large as the stadiums will be. But there will be numerous other locations across Park City under construction at some point as the Games approach. There will likely be temporary parking and transportation infrastructure as part of the operational plan that could take time to complete. The private sector, too, could pursue the completion of construction projects prior to the Games, particularly if City Hall enacts a moratorium on certain categories of work or certain locations to ensure the focus of municipal staffers is on the event.
• The Games, explained, fall and early winter 2033-34: The preparations for the Olympics will be widely publicized throughout the era, but there will likely be a heavy engagement push in the fall of 2033 and into the first weeks of 2034. Park City leaders will want to explain the many ways the Games will upend the daily lives of residents. There could be access-pass systems that restrict traffic on roads in certain neighborhoods, some parking could be either closed to the public or heavily restricted, and public facilities could also be closed if they are part of temporary leases for the Games. Parkites will want to learn about access to the Main Street post office, the expected times and locations of the worst traffic and the best routes to the slopes at Park City Mountain and Deer Valley to avoid the Games hubbub.
• The Olympics, February 2034: The intense work at City Hall and the wider community over the years will be spotlighted as the Winter Olympics are held. Park City could be among the last places the torch relay visits on its way to the opening ceremonies, generating even more excitement in the final hours before the Games. There will be three competition venues in the Park City area, and the parking and transportation infrastructure will be expected to be operating at full capacity at many points. Park City’s large winter-sports fan base will be hoping the local athletes reach the medal podium at Park City Mountain, Deer Valley and the Utah Olympic Park, something that could ignite a wave of pride across the community and help set a tone for the Games. Park City will be a favored choice to celebrate during the Olympics, with Main Street expected to be a central spot for festivities. The close of the Olympics may not end the excitement in the Park City area, as the concept for 2034 locates some competitions during the Paralympics, which follow shortly after the Games, at the Utah Olympic Park.
• The dismantling of an Olympics, spring and summer 2034: The Winter Olympics will end in late February and the Paralympics will be over a little bit later, bringing a close to the era. But it will likely be months before the physical dismantling of the Games is completed and about that same amount of time before certain financial matters are addressed. There will be extensive construction of temporary structures and installations for the Games, and those will be removed once the event ends. In some cases, the removal work will likely be completed in a day, but in other locations it may be into the spring before some of the work can even begin. The temporary stadiums that will be built at Park City Mountain and Deer Valley will be the biggest dismantling projects. City Hall, meanwhile, will spend time in the spring and summer on the municipal budget, including reconciling the financials of the Olympic work. It may be the summer of 2034 before officials can say with certainty whether the financial plan was a success. The end of the municipal fiscal year in late June could also herald the elimination of any Games-related budget items that were added over the course of the preparations, such as funding for a director of Olympic planning post.