SALT LAKE CITY — With eight-and-a-half years to go until the 2034 Winter Olympic Games, Utah organizers have booked the sport venues, secured more than 21,000 hotel rooms and raised nearly $150 million.
That came out of a hearing on Utah's Capitol Hill on Thursday where the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Host committee updated lawmakers on where things are. After the Games were awarded, the work began to organize the massive event.
"First stage is 'mission accomplished,' now we've got a bigger thing underway," said Fraser Bullock, the president of the host committee.
While the Games are largely privately funded, there will still be state and local infrastructure that will be relied upon during the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games.
"Our preparation and readiness to host another Winter Games is unprecedented," said former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, who is now the organizing committee's CEO.
Here’s 3 Utah transit projects planned for 2034 Games, and 1 Olympic hopeful:
All of the venues that were used in the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics will be used again. Of the 21,000 hotel rooms secured for the 2034 Games, Wilson said they needed about 3,000 more.
"There are organizing committees that are hosting games in the next two to three years that still don't have this done," Wilson told lawmakers.
Donors have committed almost $150 million. The organizing committee has secured downtown real estate for its headquarters, but it intends to remain small in staffing size, Wilson said. There are eight employees and three retained contractors. The committee intends to rely on partner organizations and volunteers for some of its work.
Wilson said they are working to secure "early and key revenue streams." They cannot raise money from corporate sponsors until the 2028 Los Angeles Games are completed. (In the meantime, they rely on philanthropy and donor support is high.) They will increase awareness and brand identity of the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
Wilson outlined plans to go around the state to listen to the communities. Public support for another Olympics remains high — more than 80%.
During Thursday's briefing, Olympic committee leaders outlined plans to have a "one hour travel time" radius around the venues. They proposed the venues and what events they will host. For example, the Maverik Center (which hosted hockey in 2002) will host figure skating while hockey moves to the Delta Center, now the site of the Utah Mammoths professional hockey team and the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo.
Here are the proposed Olympic venues:
Here are the proposed Paralympic venues:
Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, asked about the timeline for people to get involved. Wilson said volunteers are critical (there were 65,000 people who applied to be volunteers during the Olympics in 2002 and only 25,000 chosen), and they want people with a resume of volunteering when they get around to picking them in 2033.
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, asked for transparency for the public of what funds are being used and where.
"Our budget is public and there is not a lot in it from the state," Bullock said, noting it is a misconception that tax dollars pay for them. "There is no anticipation of any spending of any local or state taxpayer funds."
"We will not use taxpayer dollars to fund the operations of the 2034 Games," Wilson added.
Rep. Katy Hall, R-Ogden, urged the Games organizers to keep ticket prices low for the public to be able to afford to see them. Bullock countered that higher ticket prices pay for the Games themselves. He said it will be a wide range of prices for people, including some donated tickets for people who can't afford them.
There will also be more tickets available than in 2002, the committee was told.
Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, asked for coordination to get some federal dollars to help the state because of the Games coming.
