The Gateway Mall has been sold! We’re dancing in the streets (for those of us living in the surrounding hood) with as much hope as when the place first was built just before the 2002 Winter Olympics. There are a whole lot of changes coming from the reigning lords of open air malls, Vestar. With 50 such retail properties from Arizona to Texas, they appear to know what to do w … [Read more...]
Parking and Justice for All
For the past two years, Utah Stories has covered the controversy surrounding Salt Lake City’s installation of Siemens solar paneled big blue parking meters. City council members were suckered by a smooth sales pitch telling them that these new meters would be the answer to the projected parking revenue shortfall, which was identified as over $4 million per year, compared with s … [Read more...]
Downtown SLC Christmas Lights Have Been Good Business
The warm glow of Christmas lights in downtown Salt Lake City seems to brighten up both the streets and the moods of otherwise inversion grumpy Scrooges. How is that seemingly overnight millions of lights just magically appear? Children might believe it’s Santa’s elves busy at work, but Eric Crowther knows the true answer. Eric has worked the past five years to make the str … [Read more...]
Long Live the New Campfire Lounge
Camping, ahh, the great outdoors - good food, friends and fun. Camping? Bugs, sunburn and outhouses. What if someone took the first idea, forgot the second, and called it the Campfire Lounge in Sugar House? Seth Radford and Haylen LaTorre, owners of the former Bayleaf Bar and Grill on Main Street, are opening their new restaurant to reflect the coziness they believe is a … [Read more...]
Main Street Hangs On For City Creek Center
Weller's Books is moving off Main Street. Will the other local merchants survive to see the completion of the City Creek Center? by Jonny Glines and Richard Markosian Editor's Note: A prior version of this story printed in "Salt Lake City's Other Side" contained an inaccuracy that has since been corrected. The website previously referred to as UtahHistory.com is … [Read more...]
Salt Lake Mixes Sacred Space and Sustainability
by Richard Markosian Salt Lake City is the world headquarters for the fastest growing church in America, and the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is everywhere. The six gray spires of the Salt Lake Temple rise above the city. A gleaming granite convention center dominates an entire city block across the street. Even in subtle ways -- street names, … [Read more...]
A Main Street Revival or the Next ‘Vatican City’?
How the LDS Church is re-staking its claim in downtown Salt Lake City culture and retail power by Richard Markosian The Mormons are building the next Vatican City; they will own and control not just the streets, but also retail sales, free speech and alcohol trade in downtown Salt Lake City. With two write-ups in The New York Times and a deluge of blogger opinions, the … [Read more...]