The Once and Future Olympic City: A Conversation with Salt Lake City Mayor Mendenhall

Infrastructure, branding, greater awareness nationally and internationally – the benefits Salt Lake City and Utah gained from hosting the 2002 Winter Olympic Games were significant. What’s in store for 2034? Even more! ?

The selection of Salt Lake City and Utah as the host of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games is the result of decades of hard work, visionary leadership, and strategic investments. Many organizations represented on the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games are also EDCUtah investors – including Salt Lake City Corporation . EDCUtah's Sara Adelman caught up with Mayor Erin Mendenhall for her perspective on how the 2034 Games will contribute to the continued economic prosperity of Utah and its capital city. ?

We’ve seen the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute report on the potential economic impacts of the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Can you drill in on what the Games might mean for Salt Lake City?

Salt Lake City is at the heart of the Games, from the medals plaza to several of the events. Also, we hope to be hosting the International Houses from across the globe. ?

We haven’t parsed out how much of the $6.6 billion impact in the report is directly attributed to Salt Lake City. Those are some questions we’re in the process of examining. I do believe we’ll see the majority of the economic impact cited in the report centered on the Capital City.

What role will the downtown sports district play in the Games?

Both the City and Smith Entertainment Group have expressed keen interest in the potential of locating the medals plaza in the sports, entertainment, culture, and convention district. ?

Since we started this work in earnest in 2020, I’ve been beating the drum that we shouldn’t have another temporary medals plaza. The City owns Gallivan Plaza, where the 2002 medals ceremonies took place, but I’m afraid Gallivan is just not big enough. We are an Olympic city, and I would like to see a permanent legacy site for the celebration of the Games. ?

We stand out the world over for maintaining and using our Olympic sports facilities, and we should also have the permanent legacy of a medals plaza. I hope to see that in the district.

So you’re looking beyond 2034.

Yes. I think we should set our sights as Utahns to becoming an ongoing host of the Winter Games. ?

A key benefit of the 2002 Games centered on infrastructure improvements. What do you foresee in this area for the 2034 Games?

We know that the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games has budgeted just over $31 million in future capital investments. Since 2019, the State Legislature has invested a total of $94.6 million, some of it ongoing and some of it one-time, for the maintenance of the sports facilities. ?

Of the $31 million, I hope we’ll see funds centered around the heart of the Games here, between the Olympic Village at the University of Utah and the medals plaza and sporting events that will happen downtown. Again, the investments should happen with the idea of permanence in mind. That could include, on a tertiary level, the opportunity to expedite some of our transit plans. ?

As a city, we finished our Transit Master Plan update last year. We know that we’re the fastest-growing state in the nation by population percentage. We know our downtown residential population is doubling to 10,000 in a four-year period. Transit investments are one of the biggest-impact investments that cities can make for quality of life and affordability. Transit investments also make a lot of sense as we saw in 2002 for the hosting of major global events.

I hope there’s potential to attract federal investment on the implementation of our expanded transit network as we build toward 2034. This includes multiple modalities such as bus and light rail.

Another great benefit to the State and City that arose from the 2002 Games was branding. What do you anticipate for 2034?

The intangible benefits that include our identity nationally and globally are profound. As Utahns, we know the impact that the 2002 Games had on our identity, because of our lived experience. We witnessed the economic impacts, population trends, and community asset investment that were spurred by the Games.

I don’t think we can underestimate the breadth of intangible benefits that we will get from becoming a multi-Games host. Similarly, we’re only beginning to contemplate the economic and identity impacts of being a two-team capital city, with our basketball and hockey franchises. It would be an interesting case study in the coming years to measure the impact of these cumulative sports “anchors” making their home here in Salt Lake City. It is powerful that the International Olympic Committee is looking at us as a reliable and consistent host of the world.

Our greatest asset is the growing diversity of our people. The more diverse our city becomes, the stronger and more welcoming we become. The Games are not only going to showcase how different we are from 2002, it will also help us to continue to grow.

How does this announcement impact the business community—both here locally and those you want to recruit to Salt Lake City?

The endorsement of our city and state as represented by future Olympic Games is a shot in the arm for continued economic stability, and it will help attract the key industries that we want and need to grow here. And the Games are fun!

On a personal basis, what are your hopes for the Games?

In the divided world that we find ourselves in, I know the Games can unify us. I’ve seen this in Paris when we all marveled at Celine Dion’s performance to spectacular displays of athleticism in women’s rugby. It’s not just the experience of sport, but particularly Olympic and Paralympic sport, that brings us together as a global community in a way that nothing else does.

Working over the next decade toward hosting the 2034 Games does something for our community. To be planning on welcoming the world, literally building toward that goal, talking to our kids about how they can be a part of that welcoming or perhaps even representing our nation in these sports – that does something to a community. It’s like when a family focuses on volunteerism. Showing up for those opportunities to give back to the community affects the character of that family.

It's not a reach to say that the way that we prepare is going to build our community. My biggest hope is to lift our youth up. We have the youngest demographic in the nation, and there is a tremendous amount of potential in our young people. ?

These Games should be a major catalyst for our youth to go for their dreams. And I don’t just mean that they should have sporting dreams. I mean that their reach to the globe could include anything from STEM to arts to anything they want to do. The Games should connect them to more opportunity on a global scale if we do this right. ?

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