Oly venue awaits profit share

The foundation charged with distributing profits from the 2002 Winter Games has yet to come up with money appropriated earlier this year for the Olympic biathlon and cross-country track at Soldier Hollow.

Last April, members of the Olympic Parks of Utah board approved giving as much as $200,000 to the former venue, which is located within Wasatch Mountain State Park near Midway.

But as of Thursday, the organization that operates the track has yet to see a cent.

"We left the meeting thinking a grant had been paid to us," said Howard Peterson, head of the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation. In late May, however, Olympic Parks officials sent him an e-mail suggesting the $200,000 might end up being just a loan.

Peterson said Soldier Hollow trustees will meet next week to consider a new plan for capital improvements at the track that they hope will convince Olympic Parks officials to turn over the money.

Olympic Parks president John Bennion said Thursday the $200,000 will end up being spent at Soldier Hollow. Bennion said the question is whether it will go to the Soldier Hollow foundation or to the state, which actually owns the park.

"The bottom line is, this is going to work out. Exactly how is still up in the air," Bennion said.

Soldier Hollow had been the financial responsibility of the Olympic Parks foundation for two years, but members had decided not to renew the agreement despite an endowment from the 2002 Games that's expected to reach $75 million.

The Olympic Parks foundation, which took over the Utah Olympic Park ski jumps and bobsled track near Park City and the Utah Olympic Oval speedskating track in Kearns after the 2002 Games ended, hasn't been able to stay out of the red.

The money for Soldier Hollow was approved after lawmakers came up with $200,000 last session that ended up going to the golf course at Wasatch Mountain State Park instead of the track.

Bennion said granting money to the Soldier Hollow organization could complicate the issue of ownership of any improvements made to the track. He said the Olympic Parks foundation could end up doing the work itself on behalf of the state.

Peterson said the projects under consideration for Soldier Hollow include a beginners' ski and snowboard section, new ski trails, camping cabins and a year-round stadium that could seat as many as 2,500 people.

The projects are intended to increase the amount of revenue the track can generate, Peterson said. Current projections call for Soldier Hollow to raise more than $685,000 next year, much of it from tubing hills as well as ski rentals, passes and lessons.

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