I hope the Olympics added as much excitement to your summer as they did to mine. Like many of you, nothing grabs me quite like a good underdog story when watching the Olympics. Knowing the trials and struggles in an athlete’s life makes their achievements resonate deeper. Provo happens to have an Olympic underdog story that Provo residents are a part of and can be proud of.
When I first came on as Mayor, I walked into a crisis with the Peaks Ice Arena. By no fault of Provo’s, it was headed to auction. Knowing it had been used in the 2002 Olympics pained me to think of losing it. Can you imagine it being replaced by an apartment building?
In a leap of faith, I chose to have our Provo City team take on sole responsibility for operating the venue. I knew the risks but decided to trust in our community and our Parks and Recreation Department.
One of their great ideas was installing a workout space and turf to support indoor soccer and other field sports in otherwise unused space like behind the viewing stands. You, our residents, promptly showed up big time—for fitness, for soccer, and, of course, continuing to use it for hockey, figure skating, and other uses of the ice sheets. And here’s the fantastic thing: Provo City no longer has to subsidize operations there. The Peaks Ice Arena has become self-sustaining! While several local Olympic venues rely on a legacy endowment to keep them going, ours is sustained by users throughout the region. Thank you!
A few months ago, we hosted the International Olympic Committee members at the arena. They loved seeing kids playing hockey on one ice sheet and practicing figure skating routines on the other. But we didn’t realize just how impressed they were until I was with them at a later event. They had toured other venues in Utah and loved them, but the Peaks Ice Arena seemed to be the hot topic, being referenced as perhaps one of the finest examples in the world of an Olympic venue that had successfully transferred into ongoing community use. From heading to the auction block to that kind of acclaim? How’s that for a comeback story?
We are thrilled about the announcement that the Olympics are coming to Utah again in 2034 and that Provo’s ice arena will again host Olympic events. It will be great to have the world here again and experience our venue and our exceptional community!
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