Upgrade at Utah Olympic Park to be completed in June

Upgrade at Utah Olympic Park to be completed in June

(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)


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PARK CITY — Training facilities at the Utah Olympic Park will soon complete an upgrade worth $5.1 million in combined donated funds.

The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, which runs the park and the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, formally announced the details of the improvements Tuesday.

New runs for elite athletes, a unique climbing wall and structural improvements to the building itself will be unveiled June 27 at a "grand opening," said Marc Norman, vice president of the nonprofit organization.

The state contributed $1.5 million toward the projects, according to Norman. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Foundation and Spencer Eccles, a well-known Salt Lake City businessman and emeritus executive for Wells Fargo, contributed the two other largest donations. The specific dollar figures of their donations were not released.

No other government agencies funded the facility's newest upgrades, Norman said.

About $3 million went toward a renovated outdoor aerials training pool, featuring new runs that will be used by athletes training in seven skiing and snowboarding events. The runs were relatively worn down by use, Norman said.

"We'd done repairs over the years, so it wasn't dangerous, but it was time," he said.

Norman calls a "free ride jump" being installed at the training pool the first of its kind. The jump is extraordinarily wide at 16 feet across, he said, and gives skiers and snowboarders room to "carve" back and forth as they prepare for their jump.

"What we were trying to do with all these jumps is mimic what these athletes see in snow," he said.

Jacobsen Construction workers work on additional ramps and a larger pool for the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Tuesday, May 26, 2015. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
Jacobsen Construction workers work on additional ramps and a larger pool for the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Tuesday, May 26, 2015. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation used $1.1 million on the same training pool to attach what they call a "one-of-a-kind climbing wall." The wall is a simulator for athletes elite at deep water soloing, a climbing sport with difficult routes that use water as a fallback to prevent injuries.

The Olympic Park hosted elite deep water soloing competitions each of the past two years with a temporary climbing wall, attracting almost 3,000 spectators, Norman said.

The wall is also being built along the length of the pool, which was recently lengthened and deepened. This will allow several people to use the wall at once when it isn't being used in competition, according to Norman.

"It's not just for elite athletes. It's our busiest training area, but frankly the majority (of people who use it) are young kids," he said.

Norman said a top priority in every upgrade to the Olympic Park is making it attractive to elite athletes while still accessible to the wider community. The Park City facility, built in 1992, is one of 16 officially designated U.S. Olympic Training Sites in the United States.

Norman said the new wall, which will both host elite competitions and be used by the public, is an example of accommodating a wide range of users.

An additional $1 million will be invested into redesigning Olympic Plaza, expanding parking space and improving the existing construction of the building.

Tickets and donations
Anyone who wishes to purchases tickets or make a donation toward the facility can visit www.utaholympiclegacy.org

All three improvements will be ready by the grand opening on June 27, Norman said. However, the revamped aerials training pool will likely be finished as soon as June 15.

The grand opening will include a "larger than usual" aerial ski show featuring some of the sport's well-known athletes, Norman said. Ticket sales to the event will go online by later this week.

Anyone who wishes to purchases tickets or make a donation toward the facility can visit www.utaholympiclegacy.org.

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