A new student housing complex at the University of Utah that'll be home to 4,000 athletes during the Olympics could have its own light-rail station, complete with a massive, multilevel parking lot.
The proposed transportation center, which would be connected to the new dorms on Fort Douglas by a bridge across Wasatch Drive, was just one of the features pointed out to U.S. Department of Energy officials Wednesday.Representatives from Washington, D.C., and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee were in Salt Lake City last week to look at ways they can help make the 2002 Winter Games more energy efficient.
The visit could be worth as much as $300,000 to the U., said Richard Karney, director of the energy department's Office of Building Systems. That's the value of en-gi-neering assistance his office can provide.
Karney said that investment, however, should result in a tenfold savings in energy bills over the life of the new buildings. The project, estimated to cost at least $80 million, is supposed to be completed by 2000.
It will house about 2,500 students in several different buildings, designed specifically for student needs.
During the Winter Games, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee will spend $28 million to rent the complex, which will be fenced off to protect the 4,000 or so athletes expected to compete in the Olympics.
The architects hired by the university for the first stage of the design process spent more than two hours detailing what they'd like the complex to look like.
They envision two- and three-story apartment-style dorms that blend in with the historic military buildings. Each would be tailored to the type of students that would live there.
The complex would become its own neighborhood, complete with stores, day care and other services - and transportation. That could mean light rail, if an east-west spur of the yet-to-be-built system is approved.
If the Olympics weren't coming to Utah in 2002, Karney said he and Ronald Shelton, a manager with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, probably wouldn't be interested in helping with the housing project.
With the Winter Games, the new dorms become an opportunity to showcase new energy saving technologies to the world. The same is true of other Olympic-related projects, including the sports venues.
Karney said he was especially interested in the speed-skating oval at the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center after a tour Monday. The outdoor ice oval will be covered for the Olympics, one of the organizing committee's biggest projects.
The pair also spent time Tuesday with Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini and her staff. Corradini said they discussed projects the city hopes to get federal assistance for, including moving the downtown railyards.
The mayor said she also put them in touch with Salt Lake International Airport officials and referred them to private developers working on renovating historic downtown buildings.
"I just want to be sure everyone knows what's available," she said. "They're very anxious to work with us."
Corradini has made no bones about wanting the federal government's financial help on any project that could conceivably be connected to hosting the Olympic Games.