The Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation oversees the Alf Engen Ski Museum and the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles 2002 Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games Museum at the Utah Olympic Park.
The foundation aims to preserve skiing history in the Intermountain region. New Executive Director Annie Bommer said the museums are running out of space. She said about 500,000 people visit the museums each year and Bommer and her team have been raising funds to remodel parts of the museums.
“We're redoing the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame and kind of modernizing it and making room for additional people,” Bommer said.
The remodel will include work on the entrance to the Hall of Fame, which will add space to make exhibits bigger and more interactive. The extra space will also accommodate 57 more plaques over the next 10 to 15 years, Bommer said.
Construction starts July 8 and is expected to be completed by mid-August in time for three new inductees to be added. This year’s inductees are Steve Bounous, the former executive director and coach of the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation, Raelene Davis, Ski Utah’s vice president of marketing, and Bob Wheaton, the former president of Deer Valley Resort.
The team is also working to get climate-controlled cases for the Barbara Ali Simon fashion collection to better preserve and showcase the display.
Bommer said the foundation has plans to further expand.
“With the possibility of the Olympics coming, we're going to need a whole lot more room, so we're looking at that as our goal to really expand everything,” Bommer said.
She said her team is looking at ways to include contemporary history at the museum ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics. If Utah is awarded the 2034 Games, the foundation wants to expand the Olympic Museum to tell the 2002 Olympic story as well as the 2034 Olympic story.
Utah is expected to be awarded the 2034 Games on July 24, Pioneer Day. Park City is organizing a party for the announcement in collaboration with Summit County, the Park City Chamber and Utah Olympic Park.
