Your browser does not support the audio element.
00:00
00:00
1.0x
00:00/00:00
–
+
KEY POINTS
- Smith Entertainment Group released the first images of what a renovated downtown Salt Lake City could look.
- Plans call for creating a sports, entertainment, culture and convention district in a three-block area.
- SEG investment and a Salt Lake City sales tax increase will pay for the multibillion-dollar project.
Smith Entertainment Group released a video Wednesday showing what downtown Salt Lake City would look like after it undergoes a planned multibillion-dollar makeover in the next few years.
The five-minute video features SEG chairman and CEO Ryan Smith, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt County Mayor Jenny Wilson. The computer-generated renderings are the first images of their vision for a three-block sports, entertainment, culture and convention district between the Delta Center and City Creek Center.
“We’re excited to show you, for the first time, what we have all been working on for the next phase of the sports, entertainment, culture and convention district,” Smith said in the video. “We’re standing over this district that’s about to completely change.”
Plans call for a renovated Salt Palace Convention Center, updates to Abravanel Hall, a new Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, a new hotel, residences, restaurants, shops, office space and 6,000-seat music venue. SEG anticipates having 80 to 120 concerts a year in the venue.
The project includes reorienting the Delta Center entrance to face east. A paseo will connect West Temple to 300 West in the center of the district. Early plans to take 300 West underground were scrapped but there could be portals into an underground parking garage.
The pedestrian walkway will include artwork as well as a large musical note representing the Utah Jazz and a mammoth sculpture for the Utah Mammoth, the NBA and NHL teams, respectively, that Smith owns and that play in the arena.
“We’re creating a walkway all the way through, and a paseo that connects the culture, convention, and sports and entertainment, all together with a central gathering place where families and people can come, experience local food, experience iconic brands and really have a cool place to go,” Smith said.
Demolition of existing buildings in the core of the district between 200 West and 300 West and parts of the Salt Palace will begin early next year. Construction will start after that. SEG expects to finish the project before the 2034 Winter Games.
Offices, retail and restaurants will replace the loading docks on Japantown Street. The Japanese Church of Christ and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple will remain in their current locations on the street.
SEG has said it intends to put $3 billion into the project. Salt Lake City raised its sales tax rate to generate $900 million to remodel the 35-year-old Delta Center to accommodate both basketball and hockey and other district improvements. The company completed the second phase of the three-year arena redo earlier this month and intends to finish the final phase before the start of the 2027-28 basketball and hockey seasons.
Company officials have said they see the district as a gathering place for Utahns and visitors whether or not they attend a game, concert or other event.
“It’s truly a place for families and people to gather. And that’s going to be something that everyone can participate in,” Smith said.
“This is a massive win for Salt Lake City,” Mendenhall said.
Downtown, she said, needs connection.
“Prior to these district plans, when you left City Creek, you ran into the Salt Palace, and it created a wall separating our downtown,” the mayor said.
“The new district breaks down that wall and creates a walkable pedestrian connection all the way from City Creek to the Delta Center, bringing more energy and vibrancy that is desperately needed in any thriving urban core.”
The Delta Center alone, including Jazz, Mammoth games, and other concerts and events, generates over $970 million for the city’s economy every year, Mendenhall said.
Wilson said the convention business has changed, and the city is changing with it.
“This is a once-in-a-generation chance to reimagine the Salt Palace from the ground up,” she said, noting it would be able to host multiple major conventions at the same time. It will also have flexible meeting rooms, new exhibit halls, and modern space.
“Our goal is to be the single best destination to host national conventions and even some international conventions,” Wilson said.
The remodeled Salt Palace will also be a central hub for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, serving as an operations, hospitality, and event center.
