It’s a semi circle of bricks and lawn, located at the north end of the Gateway shopping centre in Salt Lake City, and according to Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney, it’s meant to be a “tangible memory” and a “poignant reminder” of the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games.
Romney unveiled the Olympic Fountain and the “Passion for the Gold” sculpture, a copper rendering by Spanish Fork resident Jonathon Bronson of a skier slicing his way down a facsimile of the Games’ snowflake crystal logo.
A much larger stone version of the logo forms the shape of a ground-level fountain, which features shooting jets of water synchronized to the Olympics theme and other music.
The plaza also features a Wall of Honor, to be completed in July that will bear the names of the 27,000 Olympic volunteers.
A “path to Olympic glory” rings the fountain and is being paved with bricks bearing the names of families, companies and individuals who would like their support of the Games to be etched in stone.
For a $50 tax-deductible donation that will help pay for the Games and U.S. Olympic teams, a name or personal inscription can be engraved on a brick.
Romney said brick orders received before Dec. 1 will be installed at the plaza before the Games begin. SLOC anticipates selling a total of between 25,000 and 30,000 bricks.
