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View in Delta Center not up to Olympic standards
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- If the Salt Lake City Olympic organizers think the bribery scandal gave them an image problem, get ready for the wrath of the fans who saw Michelle Kwan disappear right before their eyes.Fans who paid hundreds of dollars for tickets to this week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships only got to see part of the show. Seating started about 15 feet above the floor, giving almost all of the fans obstructed views of at least part of the ice.
Not many fans were on hand to miss the action.
"I've sat in a couple of different areas and there doesn't seem to be a good area where it's not blocked," Connie Phelps of suburban Salt Lake said. "I think people would not want to payknowing they wouldn't be able to see."
The U.S. Olympic Committee hasn't made a final decision on where to hold figure skating during the Olympics, but initial plans are to put it in the Delta Center. And on paper, that idea looks pretty smart. Capacity for nationals was 10,800, though seating probably can be increased by a few thousand to accommodate the figure skating fans in 2002.
It's a relatively new arena, so it's easy to maneuver in and has amenities like a coffee bar and room for souvenir hawkers. It's in the heart of downtown, close to hotels, highways and restaurants.
But the Delta Center was built solely for basketball. Unlike other, multipurpose arenas, it doesn't have permanent seats at ice level. There are temporary seats, but they don't fit when an international-size ice rink -- 60 meters by 30 meters -- is put down.
So the rink this week is set way down and the seats up high. That means spectators can't see into the corners or along the sideboards on the side where they're sitting. Huge movie screens were hung at either end of the rink, but that meant fans were flipping back and forth between the ice and the screens -- fine for a ping-pong match, but a little annoying for programs that last less than five minutes.
"It was a little distracting to watch the skater, then watch the screen," said Shawna Brennan, who came with her mother from Marshfield, Mass., to watch nationals. "It took away from the performance having to watch the screen."
And with prices at nationals ranging from $15 to $75 for individual tickets and $125 to $375 for packages, that's a lot of money to pay to watch part of the event on television. Prices will be even higher for the Olympics.
"I think I would come if they make revisions," Phelps said. "If they don't, I don't think I would come. I'd just as soon watch it on television, even though I live here."
Fans weren't the only ones dismayed with the setup. Banners had to be put up at the ends of the rink so skaters wouldn't get disoriented during their programs. A few skaters said they felt like they were in "a pit," while others said it was strange not to be able to make eye contact with the audience.
"It's a little unusual ... a little strange," Kwan said. "Probably the fans see the top of your head instead of your face."
Some of the venue assignments are being re-evaluated, said Frank Zang, spokesman for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. There's a possibility figure skating could be moved to the E Center, a smaller facility built for hockey and skating that's about 20 minutes outside downtown. The men's hockey tournament is scheduled for the E Center.
Raising the floor at the Delta Center is another possibility, but not a likely one, said Claire Ferguson, the U.S. Figure Skating Association's representative to the International Skating Union.
"I think it may be a contentious issue," Ferguson said. "I've been looking at the seating, trying different seats in different areas all around the arena and it's obvious there are problems.
"But this arena also has so much space and that is good for the skaters. There is lots of room for television and space to put the TV cameras and for the skaters to walk and warm-up, and they have big locker rooms and lounges, which makes them more comfortable."
But changing the seating or moving figure skating to the E Center will have no effect on the abysmal attendance at nationals. A total of 32,456 spectators showed up for the week's events, with the largest crowd -- 6,571 -- for the women's free skate Saturday night.
Only 4,225 showed up for the men's free skate Saturday, and 3,804 were on hand for Kwan's short program Thursday night. Attendance for the men's short program was the worst so far, 1,776.
"It doesn't look like our city's real supportive," Phelps said. "I thought it would be jammed."
Lisa Mickelson, executive director of the LOC, doesn't know why attendance has been so bad, but she said timing is definitely a problem. The year after an Olympics is traditionally watered down as medalists move on to other things. This year is no different. Kwan and Kyoko Ina are the only chmpions to return, though Ina, a two-time U.S. gold medalist with Jason Dungjen, is skating with a new partner, John Zimmerman.
But no-shows haven't plagued other post-Olympic nationals. An average of more than 9,000 fans attended each session at the 1995 nationals in Providence, R.I. That compares with an average of 3,606 per session here.
Unless some changes are made, things won't look much better in 2002.