October 1, 2002 — Work will officially begin Wed., Oct. 2 on the new Olympic Cauldron Park, to be located at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles stadium. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. just south of the stadium”s main scoreboard. Work on the park should be completed in time for a Feb. 8 anniversary celebration of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Further details of that event will be announced at the groundbreaking.

The park is one of many legacy projects funded by a $100,000,000 surplus left over from the Winter Games. This first phase of the Cauldron Park will cost about $3,600,000. It will consist of the 72-foot-high cauldron, which will be placed directly behind the stands, rising out of a pool and flanked by a wall engraved with the names of the Games’ medallists. The second phase, which will cost approximately $3,000,000 more, will boast a visitor center with a gallery showing Olympic action, a gift shop and a café.

Updated plans for the Cauldron Park will be presented at the groundbreaking. Speakers include University of Utah President Bernie Machen, Salt Lake Organizing Committee President and CEO Fraser Bullock, Spence Eccles and selected Olympic athletes, including Olympic silver medallists Shannon Bahrke and Bill Schuffenhauer.