Location: 5662 South 4800 West, Kearns, Utah
Events: speed skating - men's and women's 5,000m, 1,500m, 1,000m, 500m, and women's 3,000m and men's 10,000m; Complete schedule
 
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News |
Name game: Originally known as the Oquirrh Park Oval in Kearns.
Previous Olympic-type events: None
Briefly: The worry and waiting over the Oval is nearly past. Construction on the venue began in June 1999 and was nearing to completion last October when workers had to completely remove and replace the ovals's massive concrete slab due to major flaws.
That, of course, followed the roof collapse in April, which set workers and the oval back four months and caused scheduled test events to be relocated elsewhere in the United States.
In short, the immense $30 million arena—large enough to house four football fields inside—is finally earning some bragging rights.
"The typical word as people walk in the front door is 'Wow!' " said Alan Rindlisbacher, director of corporate marketing for Layton Construction.
A fiscally minded SLOC, the designers and Layton Construction have created what Rindlisbacher describes as a "functional" facility, while still adding an aesthetic touch or two. Some arenas used in past Winter Games have cost nearly 10 times as much as the Utah Olympic Oval.
For more information visit the arena's Web site at www.kopfc.com/facility_hours/oval.html.
 Getting to the Utah Olympic Oval |
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