Tokyo Olympics: The Meaning of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Cauldron at the University of Utah

“At one point – and I’m exaggerating – but (he) tried to convince me that if our foundation didn’t step in with the money for the cauldron, an important symbol of the Games itself, he would only have” enough Money on budget … to buy some Weber charcoal grills, weld them together and raise the flagpole of the Rice Eccles Stadium, ”Eccles said with a chuckle. “And you can guess that surely caught my attention.” That wasn’t much of an exaggeration, Romney admits. He said there was about $ 5,000 left in the budget and he would need “millions” to make sure the 2002 Games had a respectable cauldron.

The Significance of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Cauldron at the University of Utah Of course, anyone who has watched the Olympics this winter knows that Salt Lake City was not exposed to flagpoles and charcoal grills. Eccles, also chairman and CEO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, helped raise the money needed to make sure Salt Lake City had one.

Much of Friday’s event was spent reminiscing and sharing stories about the 2002 Games. There are plenty of wild stories to tell when it comes to the cauldron, even after the organizers walk past the flagpoles and grills. The design itself was quite a challenge. After the “Light the Fire Inside” theme was chosen, organizers told Romney that they would likely need a kettle that in some way reflected this. The idea arose of making it out of glass so that it could look like the Olympic flame was burning in it. But this concept ran into several logistical problems.

WET Design, co-founded by Mark Fuller, a University of Utah graduate, was selected to design the boiler. Eccles remembers the flame that stretched over 3 meters and was visible throughout the Salt Lake Valley when the kettle was lit. That, Romney said, used a lot of gasoline for fuel – so much he was told that “several people cooking their stoves went down” when the first test lighting took place at the company’s California studio. Now, with the 20th anniversary of the Salt Lake City Games approaching, the cauldron has been officially re-lit in a new place – at least temporarily – in a new location just outside the University of Utah’s Rice Eccles Stadium. Romney, Eccles, and others who either worked behind the scenes organizing or attending the Games came together Friday afternoon to unveil the new Salt Lake City Olympics and Cauldron Plaza Paralympic Games, and the cauldron after his recent renovation re-ignite.

“Mark Fuller and his team said, ‘Well, it’s great to have a fire in glass, but do you know what fire in glass does? It turns the glass black so you will have it all black in no time and you won’t see any fire, ‘”Romney recalled on Friday. Kristin Murphy, Desert News

The final product was built from hardened steel and 738 pieces of glass designed to resemble an icicle, and assembled just in time to be set alight on February 8, 2002. Senator Mitt Romney explores the University of Utah 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza during an unveiling ceremony at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday.

However, that night did not go smoothly. Romney explained that in order to light the kettle during the ceremony, you need a pilot flame to ignite the kettle. Two pilot lights were then installed to ensure that if one went out before the kettle was to be lit, a second was still there. Senator Mitt Romney explores the University of Utah’s 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza during an unveiling ceremony at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

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