Salt Lake 2002 Visitor Center and Olympic Cauldron Park

Located up in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, on the campus of the University of Utah, is my most favorite place in the Salt Lake Valley. It's on the grounds of Rice - Eccles Stadium. The Salt Lake 2002 Visitor's Center, and Olympic Cauldron Park.

My love of sports tends to draw me to this place. There are very few things that are a bigger stage then the Olympic Games. Salt Lake and Utah are very proud to have hosted the XIX Winter Olympiad.

One of the most iconic, memorable symbols of any Olympic games is the cauldron. While many cities choose to tear them down after the games, Salt Lake, along with a few other, have turned them into must see destinations for tourists and locals alike.


Salt Lake 2002 have been called the best ever for a winter or summer Olympic games. I'm not sure about that, but 10 years later there is still a buzz and continuing excitement about these games.


Inside the visitors center is a big mural of downtown Salt Lake during the games. It's also home to a gallery showing key moments, fans, the landscape, venues, and the athletes themselves. A theater within the center plays a very moving and inspirational 15 minute movie highlighting a little of the time leading up to, and the games themselves. Much more than just a simple movie on a screen. An attraction in its own right, and shouldn't be missed!

The center piece of the park is the cauldron itself. I took the picture on the left on a recent visit. 

While I strongly feel that Mitt Romney has highly over stated his role as the president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLCO), that he picked a great design and found a way to get the extra funding for this cauldron can't be denied. 

On February 8th, 2002, the cauldron was lit for 2,399 athletes (886 women, 1,513 men) from 78 nations. It burned till the 24th of the month as a viable symbol of the official theme, "Light the Fire Within"

At the cauldron's base (where the medal fencing is in the photo) each medalists from the Salt Lake 2002 games has their name and sport engraved in stone.

Also at the park is the home to the Hoberman Arch. This was used at the medals plaza in downtown, but after the games was moved to the park. 

This year is the 10th Anniversary of the games. Many special events happened all over the valley in February. One of them was a re-lighting of the cauldron. Although it didn't go as planned it still was amazing 

Major news came out of that event that my children and I attended. The Governor of Utah, and Mayor of Salt Lake made a joint announcement that Salt Lake City would look into bidding to host the 2022 and/or 2026 Winter Olympic Games. It would be simply grand to watch the youth of the world gather here again for the pure love of sport and competition.

Below are pictures of the cauldron being lit during the Olympics by the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team (left), and the 10th Anniversary re-lighting (right)