M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

"The Greatest Snow on Earth": The Winter Olympics in Downtown Salt Lake City
by Dallas Petersen

Temple Square spires and an Olympic figure skater point towards the heavens.

A recent Winter Olympics edition of The U.S. News and World Report opens with this line: "Is this the Olympics or the Mo-lympics?" To be sure, the Church will play an important role during the Winter Games. As if the bevy of Church-sponsored concerts and other events were not enough, the sheer proximity of Temple Square to the Olympics Medal Plaza and other key venues cements the Church's key role as Olympic co-host along with Salt Lake City and the state of Utah.

That said, the Winter Olympics certainly has had its effect on the Church—it's singlehandedly transformed downtown Salt Lake City from a historical/business center to Olympic Headquarters and Village. Since I work in downtown Salt Lake City, I've had the wonderful opportunity to witness firsthand the "Olympi-fying" of Temple Square and downtown Salt Lake City.

Perhaps the most dominant feature of the Olympic decor I've photographed is the banners draped on buildings throughout the downtown area. “We implemented a first in Olympic history when unveiling a building banner project of this magnitude,” said Mitt Romney, SLOC president and CEO. “The most powerful examples of our theme ‘Light the Fire Within’ are the athletes, which makes them appropriate subjects for this project.”

I'll confess, I may have gone a bit overboard with the ol' camera shutter, but I couldn't help but take a shot every time I found myself in awe of Olympics-related sights—an occurance that happened every half block. I've separated this photo collection into several different pages. For ease of navigation, I've included links on the right for you to skip back and forth to whatever page that grabs your interest. Enjoy!

Note: Click any image below to see enlargements.

Brother Brigham and Friends

I can't help but smile when I see this shot. I wonder what Brother Brigham thinks of all the Winter Olympic festivities? This statue of Brigham Young, dusted with some fresh snow, stands at the entrance of the new pedestrian walkway and park (formerly a portion of Main Street). The Olympic hockey goalie hangs from the Zion's Bank building.

One of the first buildings to get a facelift was the Marriott Hotel on West Temple Street. Near the skiers left hand, you can see two workers attaching this banner. These men were suspended in harnesses typically used for cleaning windows. And I thought I had it bad when I hang Christmas lights.

Adjacent to the Marriott Hotel, a banner of a downhill skier hangs. Everyday I see this banner from my office breakroom.

Abravanel Hall, location of many of the Olympic Art events, sports a biathalon athlete.

A snowboarder looms high above the cityscape. Snowboarding is a relatively recent addition to the Winter Olympics. Fore more on even newer sporting events, read the article "Olympic Advance" in Meridian.

A snowboarder soars high above the Assembly Hall at Temple Square. Needless to say, this is not a sight likely to be seen ever again.

The 13th story tinted window of a local hotel provides a different perpsective of the Olympic banners. From the Medals Plaza nearly all the banners will be visible.

This shot provides a stunning view of more Olympic banners with the Wasatch Mountains towering in the background.

Continue reading this article... Page 2: Olympic Souvenirs

(All photographs Copyright 2002 Dallas Petersen)

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