Arrow Dynamics Inc., the Clearfield company responsible for the structural engineering of the Olympic caldron for the 2002 Winter Games, filed last month for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Company president Fred Bolingbroke said Wednesday there was no connection between the work for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and the filing made Dec. 3 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Salt Lake City.
Bolingbroke said Arrow Dynamics lost money on a roller coaster it designed for Six Flags Magic Mountain, an amusement park in the Los Angeles area. He said he realized last July the company would lose millions of dollars on the project but declined to be more specific.
"We held out as long as we could," Bolingbroke said. "We wanted to make sure we got the caldron finished before we filed for bankruptcy."
He said the company made about $750,000 from its work on the caldron, which SLOC said cost some $2 million. Currently, Arrow Dynamics does not have any contracts for future projects, Bolingbroke said, although it is developing a roller coaster for a Las Vegas hotel.
"The events of Sept. 11 have really affected our industry," he said. The terrorist attacks against the United States has made the amusement park industry wary of investing in new rides, "so there's no money being spent."
Court records show the company's largest 20 unsecured claims add up to more than $2.2 million. The list includes subcontractors based in Utah, as well as attorneys and the Freeport Center, where the company leases space.
Under Chapter 11, a firm can continue to operate its business and manage its assets while it devises a restructuring plan.
Arrow Dynamics spent about 18 months working on the Olympic caldron, which was unveiled Tuesday at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium. Over the next two weeks, the caldron and the attached steel and glass tower will be installed at the south end of the stadium.
The company figured out how to make the unusual glass and water design work, Bolingbroke said. Water will cascade between two sheets of glass in the sharply angled caldron, which will hold the Olympic flame throughout the Games.
The caldron was designed by Wet Design, a California-based company that also designed the Olympic fountain at The Gateway in downtown Salt Lake City, as well as the "dancing waters" in front of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
"We're disappointed to see the financial difficulties Arrow Dynamics Inc. is in, but we're extremely pleased with the work they've provided the organizing committee on the Olympic caldron," SLOC spokeswoman Caroline Shaw said.
Shaw said the bankruptcy filing "doesn't impact" the work the company did for SLOC.
Bolingbroke said the company was "very proud" of its role in readying the caldron. "It's a very good legacy for us."
Contributing: Angie Welling
E-mail: lisa@desnews.com