The Hoberman Arch was the centerpiece of the Olympic Medals Plaza in downtown Salt Lake City during the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

. Following the Olympics the arch was moved to the

Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park The Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza is located outside the southwestern corner of Rice–Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. During the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the stadium was know ...

where, along with the Olympic cauldron, it was one of the main highlights and an important part of Salt Lake's Olympic legacy. In August 2014, the arch was removed from the park and a new public display location has not yet been found.

Design and history

The arch was designed by Chuck Hoberman to be used as a mechanical curtain for the Olympic Medal Plaza's stage. It is a semi-circular aluminum structure, which opened like the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

of a human eye. The arch design was inspired by Utah's natural stone arches, such as Delicate Arch. At the time of its construction the arch was the largest unfolding structure in the world. It took Hoberman four months to design the arch (with support from Buro Happold). Specialized knuckle assemblies, which allowed the arch to expand and contract, were fabricated by Hudson Machine Works in Brewster, NY. These were paired with the arch's structural components and pieced together in its entirety by Scenic Technologies of

New Windsor, New York New Windsor is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. History The region was originally inhabited by the Munsee The Munsee (or Minsi or Muncee) or mə́n'si·w ( del, Monsiyok)Online Lenape Talking Dictionary, "Munsee Indians"L ...

, who spent an additional four months in constructing the arch in their warehouse in New York. It was then disassembled and then trucked to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, being reassembled in January 2002, and unveiled to the public and media by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC), on January 25, 2002. When installed at the medal plaza it would open to reveal a large 3D sculpture of the 2002 Olympic logo and a second Olympic cauldron, known as the ''Hero's Cauldron''. The stage not only hosted award ceremonies, where the athletes received their medals, but was used as a concert venue during the Olympics; hosting many performing artists including Creed,

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were so ...

and the

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

. Following the Olympics, plans to install the arch in some kind of park were formulated. Many of Salt Lake's citizens wanted the arch to be used in an amphitheater or some kind of concert venue, possibly at downtown's

Gallivan Center The John W. Gallivan Utah Center (commonly known as the Gallivan Center), is an urban plaza in the heart of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Description The plaza, which has been described as "Salt Lake City's outdoor living room", ...

or Pioneer Park. But because the arch was a symbol of the 2002 games, the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

put restrictions on possible future locations for the arch (to protect Olympic sponsors from other businesses who do not have Olympic sponsor contracts). Because of these restrictions, and a lack of consensus among Salt Lake's leaders on where it would go, SLOC announced plans, on December 5, 2002, to install the arch at the

. On July 30, 2003, the arch was lifted onto its new base at the park using 3 cranes. The arch was located just outside the park's southern fence and was partly open which allowed visitors to walk through it, while at night the arch was lit with multicolored lights. The arch was removed from the park in August 2014. On December 6, 2014, pieces of the arch were stolen from an impound lot where it had been stored. As of March 2018, the arch remained in storage.

Details

The arch is tall, feet wide, and weighs It is made up of 4,000 individual pieces put together as 96 connected panels and are connected with 13,000 steel rivets. The 96 panels vary in size, but the largest are tall and wide. The panels are also translucent which allowed light from behind to be seen and echoed the 2002 Olympic theme ''Light the Fire Within''. Two 30-horsepower motors controlled eight separate cables which pulled the mechanical curtain open in about 20 seconds. When the arch was fully opened it had folded up into a ring, which framed the stage. It was designed to open and close like the

of an eye. During the Olympics, it was included in the every evening medal ceremony and when opened, revealed the second Olympic cauldron. Because of the potential of strong storms during the games, the arch was built to operate in extreme weather, including up to -per-hour winds.

References

External links

{{commons category, Hoberman Arch
Salt Lake 2002 Cauldron Park website

Hoberman Associates - Arch project page
2002 establishments in Utah 2002 sculptures 2002 Winter Olympics Aluminum sculptures in Utah Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Outdoor sculptures in Utah Tourist attractions in Salt Lake City