Salt Palace

Previous Salt Palaces

First Salt Palace (1899–1910)

First Salt Palace

The original Salt Palace was built in 1899 under the direction of Richard K.A. Kletting, architect, and owned by John Franklin Heath. It stood on 900 South, between State Street and Main Street in Salt Lake City. The Salt Palace was a frame structure covered by large pieces of rock salt, which gave it its name. The Palace had a large dome and was lit at night with hundreds of light bulbs. The building held a theater and was the centerpiece of an amusement park that included a dance hall, a bandstand, a bicycle racing track, rides, and other amusements. The Salt Palace and some of the other elements of the park were destroyed by fire on August 29, 1910.

Second Salt Palace (arena) (1969–1994)

Main article: Salt Palace (arena)

The second Salt Palace in Salt Lake City was an arena in use from 1969 to 1994, hosting among other events the home games of the Utah Stars and Utah Jazz basketball teams, and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles ice hockey team. Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation Tour became the fastest sell-out in Salt Palace history. Tickets for the June 18, 1990, concert were sold out in a record 1 hour and 20 minutes after the box office opened. A 1991 concert by rock band AC/DC resulted in three deaths and many injuries when the audience rushed towards the stage and trampled or trapped people. The arena was demolished in 1994.

Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center (1996–present)

Ground was broken for the current Salt Palace on April 27, 1994. Built on the site of the demolished arena, the current convention center boasts 515000 sqft of exhibit space, 164000 sqft of meeting space including a 45000 sqft grand ballroom, and 66 meeting rooms. The Salt Palace served as the Olympic Media Center during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

In 1997 the Salt Lake Tribune published a front-page exposé about how the construction of the Salt Palace had been hastened by the county geologist who erased the Warm Springs Fault from earthquake maps of Salt Lake City so that the downtown area appeared to be free of faults, enabling the convention center developers to avoid the time and expense of an earthquake hazard and risk assessment. The newspaper showed that the Warm Springs Fault runs north–south along W. Temple, directly adjacent to Temple Square and the convention center. A year later, a fault segment was found at the southern edge of the convention center, and expansion plans were halted until more earthquake fault studies could be completed. In June 1999, the expansion started back up after an independent geotechnical firm analyzed the expansion area and found no earthquake fault.

In honor of the "founding father" of Salt Lake's convention and tourism business, as well as Utah's proactive economic development efforts, the Salt Lake County Council voted to officially change the name of the Salt Palace Convention Center to the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center in the fall of 2007.

FanX, the biannual comic book convention, has been held at the Salt Palace Convention Center since September 2013. An annual family history and technology conference known as RootsTech is also held in the Salt Palace.

A Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News was scheduled to take place at the Salt Palace Convention Center on March 21, 2016. The event was cancelled after Donald Trump said he would not participate and fellow candidate John Kasich said he would not debate without Trump.

A small public park formerly occupied the southeast corner of the building's lot, but was closed in 2020 to build an attached hotel. The 700-room hotel, known as the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City, opened in October 2022.

Solar panels

On May 24, 2012, a 1.65 MW solar array was completed on the roof. Covering an area of 3.85 acre, at the time it was the largest solar array in Utah. It is expected to provide 17% of the electricity used by the Salt Palace.

Notes

References

References

1. Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board. (February 10, 1996). "The New Salt Palace". The Salt Lake Tribune.
2. Rosetta, Dick. (February 11, 1996). "A Striking Debut: Bowlers Inaugurate New Salt Palace". The Salt Lake Tribune.
3. Edwards, Alan. (June 10, 1999). "Firm finds no fault, so Salt Palace job restarts". Deseret News.
4. Nii, Jenifer K.. (August 5, 2006). "Bigger, better Salt Palace". Deseret News.
5. . ["Salt Palace Specifications"](https://www.visitsaltlake.com/meetings/salt-palace-convention-center/specifications/).
6. (August 29, 1910). "Salt Palace now in ashes". Deseret Evening News.
7. (January 20, 1991). "Police probe 1 death, injuries at Salt Palace rock concert". Deseret News.
8. (January 22, 1991). "Concert Stampede Claims BYU Student as 3rd Victim". [[Deseret News]].
9. Gross, Jane. (January 25, 1991). "Surge of rock fans; then death, grief and anger". New York Times.
10. Funk, Marianne. (December 17, 1992). "Families Settle Suits Over AC/DC Concert Deaths". [[Deseret News]].
11. Costanzo, Joe. (April 28, 1994). "Ground Gives Way for New Salt Palace". Deseret News.
12. Knudson, Max B.. (July 17, 1994). "New Facility Will Be a Palace Indeed". Deseret News.
13. (1998-07-21). "Salt Lake City, Utah Tourism". Visit Salt Lake.
14. Siegel, Lee. (December 7, 1997). "Where's the Fault?". [[Salt Lake Tribune]].
15. Swensen, Jason. (January 6, 1999). "Fault causes suspension of Salt Palace expansion: Experts don't know if it extends under existing building".
16. (June 3, 2021). "A Broad, Distributed Active Fault Zone Lies beneath Salt Lake City, Utah". [[Seismological Society of America]].
17. (2007-09-26). ""Salt Palace to add Rampton's name," Deseret News, September 26, 2007". Nl.newsbank.com.
18. (2016-03-14). "Fox News to host March 21 Republican presidential debate". Fox News.
19. (2016-03-16). "Debate canceled after Donald Trump says he won't show in Salt Lake City, Kasich too". Salt Lake Tribune.
20. . (October 18, 2022). ["Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City Officially Debuts as the First Hotel Connected to the Salt Palace Convention Center"](https://newsroom.hyatt.com/news-releases?item=124301). *Hyatt Hotels Corporation*.
21. [https://archive.today/20130127201701/http://www.kwwl.com/story/18616033/bella-energy-completes-largest-solar-array-in-utah Bella Energy completes largest solar array in Utah]