Many are aware ski racers and snowboarders competed at Park City Mountain Resort during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
And it is widely known freestyle skiers and ski racers gathered for their events at Deer Valley Resort while ski jumpers and the sliding sport athletes assembled at the Utah Olympic Park in 2002.
But what about the Park City Library, Swede Alley and the small street outside the Main Street post office during the Games?
As the 20th anniversary of the Olympics arrives, and as Salt Lake City and the wider Olympic region continue to pursue a second Games as early as the 2030 edition, Parkites who were in the community in 2002 will likely take a nostalgic look back in coming weeks. Those who were not in Park City in that era may want to learn about the extraordinary time.
While there are a variety of commemorations planned during the Olympic period this month, there are other opportunities for someone to revisit the Park City area’s Games legacy. Although the official museum of the Winter Olympics in 2002 is located at the Utah Olympic Park, the streets and certain buildings in Park City also offer someone a map of what transpired in 2002.
The Park City area hosted upward of 50% of the competitions in 2002. PCMR, Deer Valley and the Utah Olympic Park were major athletic venues. Nearby Soldier Hollow was also an important competition venue. Main Street, meanwhile, was one of the top celebration zones of the Games.
In the intervening years, plaques were posted in some of the locations that were important during the Games. They essentially create a walking tour of the Olympics stretching from the Main Street core through Old Town and to PCMR and Deer Valley. The largest concentration is on or just off Main Street, highlighting the festivities in the celebration zone.
Main Street was one of the points of emphasis during the City Hall planning for the Games in 2002. The organizing committee that put on the Olympics teamed with the municipal government to design the Main Street celebration zone. The partnership more easily brought official Olympic sponsors into the discussions and provided an infusion of funding. Park City leaders eventually also negotiated deals with other entities for municipal space outside the Main Street core.
The plaque locations include:
• Swede Alley, where the Budweiser Clydesdale horses were stabled. The Clydesdales were a popular attraction during the Games, as large crowds gathered to watch the horses traverse Main Street. The plaque indicates a stable was specially constructed for 10 horses. The horses pulled a Budweiser wagon on Swede Alley before descending Main Street. The plaque also notes that a temporary Olympic installation called Bud World operated on Swede Alley.
• the small stretch of 5th Street outside the Main Street post office, where Coca-Cola constructed a temporary building for the popular Olympic hobby of pin trading. The plaque notes there was live entertainment each day at the location and Coca-Cola hosted what was dubbed a “pin trading university.” The plaque also says the location, near the midpoint of Main Street, was the center of the Olympic celebrations in Park City.
• the northwest corner of Main Street and Heber Avenue, where General Motors operated a Chevy Hot Zone at the former location of the Kimball Art Center. The plaque recalls that the late filmmaker Bud Greenspan, the legendary chronicler of the Olympics, counted down the 10 greatest Winter Olympians at the location. A large video board and stage were included in the Chevy Hot Zone.
• Miners Plaza on Main Street, another location where Coca-Cola operated pin trading. The pin-trading booths at Miners Plaza debuted in November of 2001 and remained until March of 2002, covering much of the ski season rather than the 17 days of the Games. The plaque notes the location is close to the Roots clothing store, which drew long lines of people hoping to purchase an official U.S. Olympic team beret.
• the Park City Library and field outside the building, where a range of activities took place. A Norwegian contingent occupied space inside the building for what was called the Norway House. The Norwegians leased two floors, and the plaque notes the king and queen of Norway appeared there, alongside Norwegian Olympians and others. The Norway House also involved a Norwegian restaurant and informational display. Monster, the employment website, created a large snow maze on the field. The plaque says the construction of the maze required large amounts of snow and ice. “Thousands” of cubic-yards of material were used in the maze’s creation, it says.
The locations designated with plaques throughout Park City provide a look back at an Olympics 20 years ago, but they also could prove to be a guide, albeit a rough one, as Park City leaders eventually begin to craft plans for a second Games should one be awarded. Park City’s logistical blueprints for the Games in 2002 were largely seen as successful, and it seems highly likely City Hall officials would closely review the plans for the earlier Olympics toward the outset of the preparations for a second Games.
An early bit of research for them could be on Main Street, on foot.