New Kearns community facility will house U.S. speedskating

By Brice Wallace

Construction will begin this month on a $12 million multi-use facility in Kearns that will feature space for group events, fitness activities and a home for the national governing body of speedskating.

The Kearns Athlete Training and Event Center (KATEC) will connect the Utah Olympic Oval — famous for hosting speedskating events during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games — to the adjacent Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center (KOPFC). Construction on the new center is expected to run until late summer of 2018.

The two-story, 40-foot-tall structure will add 36,700 square feet. Among other things, the facility is expected to address KOPFC’s need for more space available to the public for community uses.

“Along with brand-new fitness areas to accommodate our growing member base, the KATEC building will also provide a multi-purpose room and plenty of green space to host community events, on top of being used for world-class events,” said Laurie Stringham, KOPFC board member.

About one-third of the new facility’s space — 10,500 square feet — will be dedicated to meeting and conference facilities for group events and gatherings of up to 250 people. It will feature an outdoor event deck with views of nearby mountains, and a community plaza.

KOPFC’s current fitness area will triple by growing by 11,500 square feet, and 11,600 square feet will provide a permanent home for US Speedskating, which is currently in the Utah Olympic Oval’s administrative space. KATEC will house the National Speed Skating Hall of Fame and speedskating training facilities, nutrition areas, a testing and evaluation lab, and access to the new High Performance Sports Medicine Clinic operated by the United States Olympic Committee.

Funding for the project includes $3 million from the state of Utah, $5 million from Salt Lake County, $2 million from KOPFC, $1 million from the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation (UOLF) and $1 million from US Speedskating. The facility will be jointly owned and operated by the foundation and KOPFC.

The foundation is a nonprofit organization responsible for managing and maintaining Olympic legacy facilities and providing opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to participate, educate and excel in winter sports. Those facilities include the Utah Olympic Oval, Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.

“The concept for this project resulted from a realization that the individual needs of numerous organizations would be best served by pooling resources and combining our efforts under one roof,” said Colin Hilton, the foundation’s president and chief executive officer. “In the spirit of an inclusive and broad-reaching Olympic legacy in Utah, this multi-use facility is providing state-of-the-art training facilities for both Olympic athletes and Kearns residents. Furthermore, the meeting and conference facilities will provide an exciting gathering space for use by visiting groups and local community needs.”

KOPFC has been a fixture in Kearns for more than 50 years, providing recreation, fitness and park services and hosting the Fire Water & Ice Festival, Winter Indoor Tri Series and other state and national events. Its 55-acre property features over 100,000 square feet of indoor facilities, an outdoor/indoor waterpark and a trail-lined leisure park. Its current facility opened in 1996 under the direction of the Oquirrh Park Fitness District, the first special service district of its kind in Utah.

The oval, built in 2001, sits on five acres and includes Utah’s only 400-meter speedskating oval and two international?sized ice sheets, plus a four?lane 442?meter running track.

“The Kearns Athlete Training and Event Center expansion will provide world-class off-ice training facilities for US Speedskating athletes that will be the perfect complement to the outstanding on-ice facilities at the Utah Olympic Oval,” said Ted Morris, executive director of US Speedskating. “We’re grateful to the many partners who have worked together to create the best speedskating training facility in the world, right here in Kearns, Utah.”

“Kearns has become synonymous with sports training and competition, excitement and community gatherings for athletes of all abilities,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams. “Salt Lake County is happy to help build on that reputation and to support more opportunities for sports enthusiasts.”

The public will be able to follow the progression of construction on the project through webpages to be established by the Utah Olympic Oval and KOPFC. The sites will include monthly image updates, information on any construction impacts, and renderings of the completed project.

The project architect is GSBS Architects. The general contractor is Okland Construction.

Details about the center are at utaholympiclegacy.org/katec.