Gusam, I appreciate your post with pics. Clearly, some of those homes are not of a salvageable value. However, some
are. The problem is their location in what has now become a street with infrastructure set up for high density. Aren't
the majority of those homes owned by one specific owner? Obviously, whoever owns those homes and lots is going to
make a pretty profit. At the very least, the city should enforce a certain physical standard for high density replacement.
What about incorporating those homes of historical, architectural charm physically, literally into the base of the mid-rise
apartment? The towers themselves should also incorporate the same style, brick finish palette and materials,
with
authentic elements, applied correctly.
If progressive officials in Park City can do it, so can officials in Salt Lake. Salt Lake City must place the same value on
it's CBD as Park City does. Downtown Salt Lake City has incredible potential for visitor financial return. Much more than
most cities. That visitor return is going to be compromised if Salt Lake doesn't adopt a consistent quality attitude
throughout the CBD as it has with many of it's civic and retail projects lately. That 600 W. location is now of such a
value that stricter standards will by no means inhibit the streets development. The term 'GATEWAY' should mean
something above the norm. Much more than cheap looking stucco storefronts and apartments, that it would seem are
often very pooly managed.
C'mon Salt Lake officials. There are developers with excellent track records, who will invest in a more attractive
complex, with adequate security surveillance and responsible management enforcement.
I'm glad to see the Gateway Center making some improvements at the street level. Hopefully, they will see the need
to upgrade their finishes throughout. Examples: IMO, the clock tower is a pathetic faux imitation. The visual finish
and elemental treatments of the immediate Northgate apartments could be so much more attractive and indicative of
the quality that is present with the Union Pacific and Rio Grande Depots. The Miller theater street engagement on Rio
Grande is dishearteningly sterile and cold. The Gateway district should be filled with inviting visuals and charm.
Not Disneyesque, amusement park tacky, That has it's place, but not in Downtown Salt Lake City. The Gateway
District should be dripping throughout with the same authentically finished charm as The Commercial Club,
The Devereaux, The Depots, The Dakota, The Crane, Beehive House, the old Daynes Music front, etc.
IMO, the massing and arrangement here is visually excellent. Though, I would have wished for a more iconic size to the
clock tower. However, the finish materials and elemental details used on pretty much everything in these two pics is
sooo subpar.
For me, the only finishing elements about this street scene that are salvageable is the street lighting. Even the
pavement feels unfinished. While utilitarian, it is cold and uninviting.
One by one, even if just one specific frontage at a time, Gateway should make it's massing finishes more organic.
One by one, convert a front here and a store there into something thoroughly Jacobian, Victorian and Edwardian. Do
it exactly in the same manner as would be visually confronted from a time proven stunning square in London, or even
a lost street from 19th Century Salt Lake. Do it with a focus toward a three dimensional depth of finish. Certainly not
a flat, one dimensional finish as with the Gateway Six.
Now, if the same quality of finish and elemental details were used above as in this proven stunner below, think how
much more inviting and enticing Gateway could be. The styles don't all need to be Chateauesque, but we all get
the picture.
http://upload.wikimedia.org
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come on historical.
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