Salt Lake City will bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics despite losing the 1998 Winter Games to Nagano, Japan, an official of the Salt Lake City Bid Committee for the Olympic Winter Games said Thursday.
Dave Johnson, bid committee vice president for international relations, said $6 million already has been budgeted for the bid to host the Games.And Tom Welch, bid committee chairman, has the support of Gov. Norm Bangerter and Mayor Palmer DePaulis to head up the new effort, according to Johnson.
"From the moment we announce we're a candidate we're going to be the front-runner," Johnson told an audience of about 100 attending a Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau breakfast.
After his presentation, Johnson told reporters that the decision has been made to bid for the 2002 Winter Games. The budget, he said, was drawn up right after the loss to Nagano in mid-June.
Although the governor and other backers of the failed bid for the 1998 Winter Games have said they want to bid for the next Olympics, they have held back from making a firm commitment.
Their concern continues to be whether the U.S. Olympic Committee will agree to renegotiate Salt Lake's agreement to build $56 million in facilities in exchange for being the U.S. candidate for 1998 and 2002.
Meanwhile, Bangerter has met with the business and community leaders who supported the bid. The more than $5 million price tag was picked up entirely through private donations.
No money has been raised yet for the 2002 bid and won't be until all the debts from 1998 are paid off, Johnson said. There is about $50,000 yet to be paid, he said, adding it will probably come out of Welch's pocket.