SALT LAKE CITY — The brightest legacy of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City was fired up early Wednesday after the city was awarded the 2034 Games, and it will continue to do so during the decade-long build until the world arrives.
As long as someone remembers to flip the switch, of course.
For 16 days and nights during Utah's first turn at hosting the Games, the cauldron that held the Olympic flame stood tall over Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah.
The 72-foot tall glass cauldron constructed with over 700 glass panels was designed with a fire and ice motif, similar to the theme of the actual Olympics that year.
It still stands guard over the home of the Utes, although in a slightly different location.
"To the best of my knowledge, it's moved three times," explained university spokesperson Shawn Wood.
Originally, the cauldron sat atop the south end of the stadium before it was moved to a park that was just outside. When the south stands of Rice-Eccles were expanded in 2020, the flame was on the move again.
"The 2002 Olympics here in Salt Lake City and Utah were so impactful that when the south end zone was being expanded, we knew that we had to protect this and refurbish it and make it a long lasting aspect of Salt Lake City," said Wood.
So in 2021, at a cost of about $2 million, the cauldron was moved to its current location in a plaza where it can be accessed by all.
"Now it's on a pedestal where it's even more visible," Wood said.
Unlike in 2002, it doesn't take the Miracle on Ice hockey team to light the gas-fueled flame.
"So it used to be a very, as I understand it, a more-involved process," according to Wood. "You had to turn on the gas, you had to do this, you had to do that, and at certain times it was iffy whether or not it would be turned on at all.
"So now it's a turn of a switch."
Yes, a simple flip of a switch at its base shares a light that glows across Salt Lake City. It's now cost-efficient, too, with a charge of about $10 an hour to keep it shining its brightest.
Whether the 2002 cauldron gets called in to serve during the 2034 Games isn't known just yet, but like a relief pitcher in the Olympics bullpen, this flame just needs to warm up.
