Where, oh where, is the Hoberman Arch?

Salt Lake City's new plan for the Hoberman Arch is the same as the old one: nada, zippo, zilch.

A year after the Olympic icon was disassembled and moved from the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium, the arch remains warehoused in an undisclosed location gathering dust. Out of sight, out of mind.

In January, pieces of the arch were stolen from the city's outdoor impound lot, 2350 W. 500 South, where the artwork was stored on the ground near a chain-link fence. The remaining pieces have been moved indoors somewhere.

It doesn't appear as though a plan to resurrect the arch tops any list at City Hall. A recent proposal for a $150 million parks and recreation bond — since shelved ­—­ made no mention of the arch.

Rick Graham, the city's director of public services, said Friday the municipality continues to evaluate public spaces for the arch.

"Success depends on a suitable and safe location, funding for fabrication [of the stolen pieces], reconstruction and ongoing maintenance, [as well as] participation of local partners," Graham wrote in an email.

Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's mayor during the 2002 Winter Games, said he continues to be disappointed that the Hoberman Arch isn't on display at a prominent spot. He blames Mayor Ralph Becker for the arch's fate.

For his part, Becker said Friday that the city has to have all the parts for the arch before it can move forward. And he noted that Anderson and the City Council of 2002 and 2003 could not agree on a permanent home for the Medals Plaza centerpiece.

When assembled, the spectacular 31,000-pound aluminum web is 36 feet high and 72 feet wide. It opens and closes like the iris of an eye.

Last August, the University of Utah asked Salt Lake City to take the arch from the school's campus, where it was planted in 2003.

At the time, a Becker spokesman said the move had caught the administration by surprise. "We don't know where it's going," Art Raymond said then.

The U. had contracted with the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) to keep the arch through 2009, said spokeswoman Maria O'Mara. She noted that the school had notified the Becker administration in April 2014 that it was giving the Hoberman Arch back to the municipality.

Then-City Council Chairman Charlie Luke said at the time that the arch should be part of an Olympic legacy park. But a year later, there has been no council discussion of a place for the arch, much less an Olympic legacy park. Luke was not available for comment Friday.

Anderson said he had planned such a venue when the Olympics ended. He had a $7 million to $8 million pledge from SLOC for the project. The plan would have put the arch on display at Pioneer Park. It also included a nearby wintertime skating rink with a warming hut and kiosks serving food and beverages and other goods. During warm months, Anderson said, the skating rink would give way to an Olympic garden.

The City Council in 2002 and 2003, however, wanted to put the arch at Gallivan Plaza. With Anderson and the council at loggerheads, SLOC found a temporary site for the arch at Rice-Eccles, where the Opening and Closing ceremonies for the 2002 Games had been held. But the site on the south end of the stadium was too small to allow the arch to open, diminishing it from the glory days of the Winter Olympics.

Soon the City Council will tackle its capital-improvements budget. But presently it contains no line item for the Hoberman Arch.

csmart@sltrib.com