Holy smokes. Will wonders never cease. Pick my jaw up off the ground. The Hoberman Arch from Salt Lake City’s 2002 Winter Games is reportedly going to rise like the Phoenix.
As a reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, I wrote about the demise of the Olympic icon no less than a half-dozen times from 2014 to 2018, wondering what had happened to the master work of renowned designer Chuck Hoberman. I began to feel like I was the only one who cared about the awe-inspiring object that had been touted as our Olympic legacy.
The arch, which was a centerpiece of the 2002 Winter Games medals plaza, was planted at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah in 2003 as a default because the City Council and Mayor Rocky Anderson were at odds on where to put it. There, it could not be opened and stood as a shadow of its phenomenal design. When opened, the 31,000-pound aluminum web is 36 feet high and 72 feet wide. It opens and closes like the iris of an eye.
In August, 2015, the university asked Salt Lake City to take the arch from the school’s campus. It cost the city $116,000 to tear it apart and move it to the impound lot at 2150 W. 500 South, where it sat like scrap.
And then — surprise — a number of its 4,000 pieces were stolen. Embarrassed, city officials moved the remaining parts to a secret location, where it has sat in pieces ever since.
But on Aug. 22, spokeswoman Nancy Volmer hinted it would appear at Salt Lake City International Airport. At long last the Hoberman Arch will get its due and I can go to sleep with a smile on my face.
Christopher Smart, Salt Lake City
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible