Group wants to build luxury hotel at '02 Games site

The private foundation that owns and operates the state-built Olympic facilities near Park City is looking for legislation that would permit a luxury hotel to be built on the site — possibly atop the massive ski jumps.

The proposal comes more than a decade after the Deseret Morning News first disclosed that commercial development was allowed at what is now known as Utah Olympic Park, home to the ski jumps and bobsled track used in the 2002 Winter Games.

At that time, then-Gov. Mike Leavitt stepped in and said the state would have to have a say in what's built and collect any earnings from the sale or lease of property on the 386-acre park at Kimball Junction.

A year after the governor's 1994 decision, the privately funded Salt Lake Organizing Committee purchased the park and other Olympic facilities from the state. Olympic organizers turned the facilities over to the Utah Athletic Foundation after the 2002 Games.

The foundation, created by lawmakers but privately funded with an $80 million endowment from the 2002 Games, approached a Chicago firm, Terrace Development, about building a hotel on about 30 acres of the park, foundation president John Bennion said.

The developers had proposed putting a 330-room hotel in the adjacent Sun Peak housing development, but area residents have protested the 275,000-square-foot project. Bennion said the foundation started talking with the developers about a month ago.

Bennion said the hotel was described to him by the developers as "fancy-schmancy for sure. It's very high-end. They said, 'Think Stein Eriksen (Lodge, in Deer Valley) and go up a notch.' " He said there was no timetable yet for starting the project.

He said the developers like the land atop the ski jumps, although he acknowledged there might be zoning difficulties. The jumps are visible from I-80 and have a sweeping view of the area.

Before the talks go further, Bennion said the foundation wants to clarify whether the Legislature and the governor must both sign off on the project and other details. "First things first. We want to see if we can do it," Bennion said.

A so-called "box car" bill that has yet to be drafted has been introduced by Rep. Dave Ure, R-Kamas, to make it clear the hotel could be built. Ure said he's interested in helping because the foundation has talked about coming back to the state for additional funds someday.

Ure said legislative staff is sifting through the old agreements associated with the land use to determine just what lawmakers need to do. That apparently includes finding a way to hand over the profits from the land sale or lease to the private foundation.