| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
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Utahns flock to downtown Salt Lake en masse
By Amy Joi Bryson
Deseret News staff writer
They came as couples, families, groups and singles. They came with dogs, with kids, with strollers and balloons.
And they all came downtown. At once. On a mild Saturday afternoon they jammed sidewalks, street corners, and flowed into Main Street as if it was a park.
"There's more people down here than the last 20 years combined," observed Salt Lake City resident Bill Thomas. "This is kind of nice to see."
Thomas said he hadn't seen downtown so crowded since the early '70s before malls took shoppers off the sidewalks and indoors.
"There are a lot of crowds out there — a lot of people on the street. It's the way it used to be."
After a full week of being perched rinkside, on top of mountains or tucked away at home to watch the Games, the Olympic crowds descended into Salt Lake City's downtown en masse.
"If we could keep it this way it would be fun," Bountiful's David Facer said.
Facer, his wife, Becky, and their 4-month-old twin sons chose Saturday to make their first trip into Salt Lake City since the 2002 Winter Games began Feb. 8.
Friends Curtis and Sharon Stevens from West Jordan came along and were bowled over by the crowds.
"It's cool," Curtis Stevens said, "but I don't think people are seeing Salt Lake City like it really is."
Stevens, like others, predicted the eclectic mix of crowds and the accompanying fun will leave when the Games do.
"It's going to be boring," West Jordan Tracy Sharp said, adding she'd never seen so many people downtown before.
Lee Hendrickson of Hyrum says he usually makes it to Salt Lake City at least twice a month to visit his daughter who attends the University of Utah.
On Saturday, in town to soak up the Olympic atmosphere, Hendrickson was impressed.
"I can't believe how many people are here," he said.
Volunteers working security at the downtown Olympic Plaza said Saturday's wait to get in was running between 90 minutes to two hours.
"This is the busiest night we have had," SLOC volunteer Ginger Hucks said. "I think Saturday, Sunday and Monday are going to be the busiest by far because of the holiday, plus it was a nice day, a Saturday and people want to come down and see what is going on."
Olympic officials agree and are predicting a weekend jammed with crowds in part due to President's Day on Monday.
"We're anticipating an increase in pedestrians because of the holiday weekend," SLOC spokeswoman Caroline Shaw said. "We're still encouraging people to use the park and ride system and to carpool."
UTA spokesman Kris McBride said there was an estimated 100,000 rides taken Saturday on TRAX.
"There were some lines in the downtown area," he said. "And we encourage people to go to the park-and-ride lots." (see story on B4)
By comparison, one of the busiest days TRAX experienced in the crush of Christmas holiday shopping last year saw ridership on the downtown line at 33,000 on a Saturday.
Caught up in the midst of the crowds was an elated Salt Lake City mayor.
"It's jammed everywhere, and it's been great," Rocky Anderson said. "I think everyone is excited and pleased about the crowds that all of these events have generated in the downtown area."
Although Anderson just a few days ago was bemoaning the lack of patrons at local businesses, he had nothing to mourn on Saturday.
Nearly yelling into his cell phone to be heard over the din, Anderson was taking in the pre-show entertainment Saturday evening at the Medals Plaza, nearly an hour before festivities were to begin.
"The place is packed," he said.
Earlier in the day, Anderson was at Washington Square at the City-County Building.
"We had a really good crowd there. At the Cultural Celebration tent, you couldn't fit any more people in there."
Anderson said he believed Saturday's crowds were a by-product of the holiday weekend, mild weather and an accessible transportation system.
Unlike earlier skeptics, however, Anderson said he didn't believe Salt Lake City has to return to the days of old after the Olympics are gone.
"I think in many respects it would be great to keep the crowds, to keep Main Street alive at night on the weekends," he said. "We simply need to keep the spirit of these Games alive — at least on the weekends in the downtown area."
Despite the throng of people, the Salt Lake Police Department reported little out of the ordinary.
"We did assign some extra people to traffic management, but it's been routine kind of police work. Nothing really outstanding has been happening," Sgt. Craig Gleason.
Contributing: Angie Welling.
E-MAIL: amyjoi@desnews.com
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February 17, 2002
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