Since Utah was awarded the 2034 Games in July 2024, communities with Olympic venues have been working on plans to host.
Park City and Summit County are no different. The two entities have been collaborating on ways 2034 can create a lasting legacy, much like the 2002 Games brought about youth sports programs that are developing the next generation of Olympians.
To aid in those efforts, Park City sent Mayor Ryan Dickey, acting City Manager Jodi Emery and councilmember Tana Toly to Italy to participate in the Olympic observer program. Summit County sent County Manager Shayne Scott and councilmember Tonja Hanson.
Scott and Emery presented key learning points to both councils Friday morning.
Emery said one of the biggest differences between Italy and Utah’s Olympics is the distance between venues.
“The venues were separated by hundreds of miles,” she said. “In contrast, Utah's compact footprint is our greatest advantage, but I would say it also is our greatest management challenge. Because our venues are so close, we are going to have a lot of pressure on Park City and Summit County's infrastructure.”
Emery said that means Park City and Summit County will have to work together as well as with state and federal partners.
She said it will also be important to work on venue and municipal collaboration early on, so when there’s an influx of visitors for the Games, all entities are on the same page. Training for volunteers is also a must.
“A major lesson learned is the need to empower volunteer leadership,” Emery said. “We need to build a pipeline of local leaders who understand our municipal standards so they can act as an extension of our staff during peak operations.”
Coordinating with public transit is also essential. Emery said without it, there won’t be a way to ensure local residents, workforce and volunteers will be able to get around when the world arrives.
Scott emphasized the need for the county and city to be flexible and have contingency plans. For example, when he was in the uniform and accreditation building, he noticed a drip in a Cortina building.
“The IOC [International Olympic Committee] had called these local municipalities and said, ‘Can we get this drip fixed?’ And they're like, ‘We can't fix that drip. We're completely overwhelmed by these Games. It'll be two weeks,’” he said.
That made Scott think about how the city and county can continue being on top of regular city activities, like snow removal.
Another lesson on the need for flexibility came when Scott and other attendees had to walk through hundreds of yards of mud to get to the luge venue. The next day, there were wood chips on the pathway.
As for contingency plans, Scott said he heard many times throughout the visit that plan B became plan A.
“As much as we think about, well, ‘We're going to park people here, or this gondola is going to take people there,’ they had a gondola that was not operational, and they were able to get a bus that would make up for that transportation.”
One of the biggest lessons from Italy was how host mountain communities maintained their local character while under a global spotlight. Emery said that work has already started. She and Scott aim to have an interlocal agreement established between the city and county within the year as well as identify city, county and regional goals.
They also plan to attend the 2028 Summer Games observer program in Los Angeles.
