Local officials anticipate the Salt Lake Organizing Committee will formally approve funding Thursday for an expanded Olympic ice arena at Seven Peaks.
An affirmative decision would culminate years of lobbying and negotiating for a 2002 Winter Games venue for a city that initially didn't figure into the SLOC's plans.Seven Peaks owner Max Rabner and Utah County Commissioner Gary Herbert, a member of the Provo City/Utah County Ice Sheet Authority, updated the Provo City Council on the status of the project Tuesday. At the conclusion of the presentation, the council asked Rabner if he were confident of SLOC approval.
"That's a tough statement to make - but yes," he said.
Rabner and local government leaders have been careful not to call the proposal a done deal despite generally positive feedback from Olympic organizers. The SLOC board of directors is expected to seal the deal at a Thursday meeting.
The SLOC told the ice sheet authority late last year that it would supply $2.5 million, including a $750,000 in-kind donation from Home Depot, to increase the building's seating capacity from 2,500 to 8,500, making it suitable for hockey games during the 2002 Winter Games. The cash would come in five installments of $350,000 during construction of the ice rink.
The project is now estimated to cost more than $10 million. Provo and Utah County will put up $2 million each, the SLOC's share stands at $5.5 million and Seven Peaks will kick in another $1 million.
Being brought into the Olympic picture late might have worked in Utah Valley's favor.
"We may be getting the best deal of all," Herbert told the council.
Utah County, he said, has learned from other projects such as the $6.2 million ice arena in Ogden, which has a single ice sheet with 2,500 seats compared with Seven Peaks' dual ice sheets with 8,500 seats. Weber County contributed $2 million toward the ice sheet's cost, and $1 million was raised from various private donors. The SLOC provided $3.25 million in state funds.
"We're getting a phenomenal opportunity here for a minimal amount of money," Herbert said.
The Provo venue would host women's hockey during the Olympics if the SLOC approves the funding for the expanded facility. If it doesn't, a 2,000-seat arena will be built and used as a practice and training site only.