The chairmen of the museum’s board of directors Ron Steele and Alan Engen, son of the museum’s namesake, cut the ribbon to open the newly designed exhibit.
Although the amount of space hasn’t changed, a re-design of the plaques, featuring larger photos of the inductees, will give the museum enough space to add new inductees for another 10 to 20 years.
The installation was at the top of the to-do list when museum executive director Annie Bommer was hired in April.
"They started construction in July so, about two months into me working here, and we've just been pushing and pushing to get everything done,” Bommer said.
Construction of phase one started in July at a cost of $200,000.
Bommer said phase two will install a new facade on the ski hall of fame and provide permanent, humidity and temperature-controlled exhibit cases for the ski fashions and other artifacts.
The total construction cost will be $400,000.
Surprisingly, Bommer said the museum doesn’t host any fundraisers.
“We don't do any gala event fundraisers or auctions or anything of that nature. We just rely on our members, our donors and our big grants and that's been able to fund us to these extraordinary levels,” she said.
The Ski Hall of Fame is hosting its annual induction dinner on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at The Chateaux Deer Valley. Bommer said it’s a sold-out event with a long waiting list.
This year’s inductees include former long-time President and General Manager of Deer Valley Bob Wheaton; NCAA All-American ski racer and former executive director and coach of the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation Steve Bounous and Raelene Davis who has worked at Ski Utah for the last 35 years — most recently as vice president of marketing and operations.
Bounous is one of three people who share the wall of fame with their fathers. His father, Junior, was inducted in the inaugural class in 2002. The others include Alf and Alan Engen and Albert “Sunny” and Karen Korfanta.
Every year, half a million people visit the museum, which Bommer said is amazing for an attraction of its size.
“For a Utah Museum, we’re up there really high; we're like in the top five in attendees. In the other museums that I've worked at across the Wasatch Front, it was amazing if we got 2,000 people through the doors every year," Bommer said. "So, when I saw that it was 500,000 at the UOP when I first started, I just about fell over backwards. It's amazing.”
The Ski Hall of Fame honors winter sport professionals and pioneers who have contributed to the development of skiing and snowboarding in the intermountain region, which includes Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
A committee from the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Ski Archives reviews the nominations and selects the inductees each year.
