Quote:
Originally Posted by Future Mayor
While I'm not a fan of the Shilo, I think it's come to the point where it is sort of an icon for the city, after all you can see it from nearly anywhere on south I-15 to the point of the mountain.
I'm not saying the Shilo is in this category, but one thing we have to take into account is style when something was built, style and possibly a dislike of that same things several decades later, leading to losing buildings in certain eras. The exact thing that happened with so many old buildings in the mid century, that were covered up with hideous aluminum in the 50's and 60's, some torn down and we now lament the loss of those buildings, some with facades completely destroyed and some, luckily, with facade that can be salvaged. For many many years I hated the now Ken Garff building and the former PSB, but in the last 10 years I have come to appreciate that style of architecture, and the fact that it represents an era in our city. Again I'm not saying that the Shilo will ever be treasured, but you never know, people most likely said the same thing about the building that it replaced. Which we now see was a major loss.
Again, I wish the Montgomery Ward, Metro Building and bank were staying, however since that ship has sailed I am excited for what is coming. I would rather see the Shilo stay though and have a vacant parking lot developed instead of Salt Lake City continuing to rebuild on the same parcels every 40-60 years.
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I don't think the Shilo Inn would ever be missed like older buildings are. There was a lot of craftsmanship, qulity, and interesting architecture that went into the older buildings. I think that a lot of people have started to become nostalgic for for older architecture because we feel that we have lost somthing when it come to qulity... We just don't build a lot of qulity stuff any more. There are exception and I think in some cases things have gotten better since the 80's.
The Shilo Inn is a perfect example of an achatechual slum... It is stuff like the Shilo Inn that destroid our beautiful architecture. I am fully aware that it's noticeable (or iconic if you want to call it that)... I can't look out my window without seeing it... But that isn't always a good thing.. It's more Iconic in a "what the hell were we thinking" sort of way. It looks like a cheap lowbrow Vegas casino from the 70's 80's. Take the lights away and it's just a boring uninspiring box that is ugly and has not been well maintained. Many of the lights don't even work half the time.. It just comes off as trashy. I might have joked around about it a few times... But I don't want to see a parking lot replace the building.... But I do want it replaced with somthing nicer.... A reclade and gut job might also be acceptable if it can actually make a difference... The tacky casino look needs to go...
As far as the ken garff building... I don't really like that building... It always reminded me of a huge tin shed.... But I probably would keep that one.. It does need a little bit of love.
The old public safety building probably needs to be gutted and recladed... It's in really bad shape.. It is redeemable though. I think it could be recladed in a way that maintains the style but looks less tacky.... Inside is in really bad shape from what I hear. I wouldn't be sad if they did build somthing new there.. But it's savable.
I think the Shilo Inn is the only building that I would be celebrating with a bottle of wine if they imploded the thing