The Utah 2034 Olympics/Paralympics ‘listening tour’ stops in Heber, Midway

Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco (in blue shirt) and Midway Mayor Celeste Johnson at SoHo discussing the 2034 Olympics/Paralympics. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

MIDWAY, Utah — On Tuesday, approximately 25 administrators of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games met behind closed doors at Soldier Hollow (SoHo) in Midway as the ‘listening tour’ made a stop in the Wasatch Back.

Afterwards, Midway Mayor Celeste Johnson and Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco emerged and spoke to the media. They were later joined by Brad Wilson, the Vice Chair of the Olympic Organizing Committee.

All in agreement that the meeting went well, they answered questions. Johnson stated before and during the 2002 Olympics Midway citizens decided they didn’t have a desire to be on any official participatory level with the Games. She admitted having some regret about that past decision and is now “welcoming the Olympics and Paralympics with open arms and seeing what types of activities could be hosted” in the European-style town. To which Franco essentially added, ‘ditto.’

Franco then discussed her personal experience of the 2002 Olympics and Paralympics when it came through the Heber Valley. She remembered how the Olympians and the Olympic spirit immensely influenced her son, as he was a runner who competed at the state level and benefited from the added athletic infrastructure throughout Utah. She hopes the next generation will gain as much, tangibly and intangibly, from the next Utah Olympics and Paralympics.

They discussed how Johnson is not running for reelection and Franco is running for reelection in 2025. She faces a challenge from City Council member Scott Phillips. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Franco was asked about the Heber City roads bypass project and it’s relation to Games logistics. She replied that all stakeholders have a voice on the matter and that the real or perceived pros and cons are being framed with a realistic eye on 2034 impacts.

Wilson made some comments to the assembled press regarding athlete housing. He said that although there are multiple existing hotels in Heber, two resorts in Midway, new-build lodging close by at Deer Valley’s Mayflower, and the potentiality of a SoHo sport dorm a la the Utah Olympic Park Residences, there’s still a chance some in the nordic ski competitors may need to sleep at the University of Utah’s Athlete’s Village. 

Pointing out the silver lining of that possibility, Wilson explained how that’s “merely an hour away.” By comparison, in this winter’s 2026 Olympics and Paralympics in Northern Italy, distances between venues can span a drive of five hours.

TownLift had further talks with Mayor Franco following the press conference, asking if, in 2034, this venue would portray the same old-timey performance-based living history theme where people in period outfits churned butter, hung hides, and strung jewelry as ticket-holders fascinatedly meandered by. She said that “that is one of many choices being worked on by her friend and collaborator Luke Bodensteiner in the coming years.” He’s the director of SoHo and also an Albertville 1992 and Lillehammer 1994 cross-country skiing Olympian. He competed for the University of Utah, served on the Organizing Committee for the 2002 Games, and was an executive with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.

Paralympic cross-country skiing is hosted at SoHo, as well as para biathlon. On Tuesday, a separate statement was released announcing the names of the U.S. para cross-country national team. 

Cross-country skiing, biathlon, and Nordic combined were the disciplines hosted at Sochi in the 2014 Games and will again be in 2026. Locals and visitors enjoy golf there, as well as tubing, biking, a master’s-aged cross-country and roller ski group, a biathlon experience, youth Team Soldier Hollow, ice castles, catered dinners at the Chuckwagon Cabin, and custom yurt snowshoe dinners.

This was the second stop on the Listening Tour; Ogden was the first.