Olympic center in S.L.?
Researchers asking Crossroads shoppers if they like the idea
Displaying artist renderings of the center that show the LDS Temple just outside a glassed-in wall, a marketing research group is asking shoppers at Crossroads Plaza whether they'd be interested in Salt Lake having an Olympic Spirit Center, possibly similar to a massive, multimillion dollar entertainment complex in Canada.
As shown in the rendering — as it would appear from the north side of Crossroads — the center would be part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' downtown malls renovation project. The two adjacent downtown malls are owned by the LDS Church, and specific plans for their renovation have not yet been made public.
Presiding Bishop H. David Burton has told the Deseret Morning News, however, that he would like some sort of virtual reality or high-sensory Games venue to be part of the project. Mayor Rocky Anderson and other city officials agree downtown is the natural choice for the center.
Various possible sites have been discussed, including Regent Street downtown and possibly in conjunction with a new Real Salt Lake soccer stadium, Anderson said. "For an Olympic host city to have this kind of attraction would be such a great thing for our downtown. We have got to bring more things into our downtown that will attract families and will be something that young people will be attracted to and also to get away from the notion that night life has to entail alcohol. We need places for people that don't enjoy drinking."
The Canadian complex, sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, opened about a year ago and has been called one of Canada's top tourist attractions.
Shannon Fletcher of Lighthouse Research, the Riverton-based group conducting the marketing research at Crossroads, said the work "at this point is being done as a feasibility study." Fletcher referred questions to the company's client, Peter Kaanapu, who said the licensing agreement he and other investors have with the IOC "precludes us from making any public comments on our facility until it has been approved. . . . The IOC is very protective of their brand."
Participants in the study, apparently mostly tourists, are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement before seeing a brief video and then answering a series of questions on computers set up in an empty storefront in the mall.
Fraser Bullock, who served as chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Games, said he's a cheerleader for the project — but not an investor. "The key question is, is it financially viable? I think it is, if it's done right," said Bullock, himself a fund manager.
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