When I was a kid, the block north of Little America was a very vibrant block, even after Earl Holding tore down the Newhouse hotel. There were all sorts of businesses there and an old tire store, which I loved the architecture of. How the block became derelict is he bought up all the buildings and let the ones he didn't tear down right away sit vacant for decades. He left the block this ugly scarred mess of dirt and gravel and had his employees park on it. It wasn't until the city harassed him constantly for over a decade to clean up his parking lot and make it look nice that he actually did it. It's not like he made the parking lot look pretty out of the goodness of his heart. He created the blight.
I don't feel bad for him spending his money to put Grand America so far from the Salt Palace. And he hasn't run out of money, nor his heirs, since he's dead. He (his heirs) own(s) an oil company that brings in hundreds of millions every year.
I said on this forum many years ago that he should have put it on the block north of Little America. They could've had created a great synergy between the two hotels by having a bridge connecting the convention space of the two hotels, allowing the hotels to host larger conventions. As it is now, they never have conventions that use both spaces. They are used quite independently.
And. as I previously posted, the back door of the hotel would be only 2 blocks from Salt Palace then, instead of 4 blocks and be a part of the fabric of the city. And it would've had the TRAX stop right at its door for guests to use more easily.
If you took the current configuration of the GA, flipped it around so the front faces east on the Little America block, the existing back door would be near the intersection of 400 S and West Temple. The LA and GA convention spaces would be very close to each other as LA's meeting spaces are on the north of its block. Easy to connect via a skybridge. A skybridge there wouldn't be a concern because it's not blocking the views of anything important.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orlando
Just some thoughts:
Just like most of you, I, too, would love to see a new cool looking and tall convention hotel tower downtown. However, at the same time I kind of feel bad for Earl Holding and company. He/they put up a lot of their own money to build a signature classy hotel, The Grand America, in downtown for the Olympics. They knew that their investment would take a while to recoup its value, but he went ahead, in large part, to give a high quality landmark building to Salt Lake City and its legacy. It is the only 5-star hotel in the city. Some of you on this forum have lambasted him for land banking on lots that he owns, but consider this: he/they probably don't have the money to develop those lots because their money was spent building the Grand America. The block north of Little America was blighted. There were a few derelict buildings on there. So, they put money into a pretty nice parking block. Believe me, it looks much, much better than what was there before.
Part of the problem for the Grand America is that it is too far from the convention center, and not in the nicest part of the city, in my opinion. I've often thought, "Why didn't they build on the lot north of Little America? It would have placed it closer to the convention center to be a viable convention hotel, and it would feel much, more integrated into the urban fabric of downtown, and some of its more older buildings(the old courthouse, etc.)." But, I think they didn't build on that lot because of logistics of connecting with the Little America, and because it would have interrupted the view corridor to the Salt Lake City & County Building, probably our most regarded landmark historical building, besides the Salt Lake Temple.
So, this bill going forward in the Utah congress is controversial to me. I see the need for a convention hotel, and I understand that the state money is going towards the convention meeting space, parking, etc. but I do symphathize for Earl Holding and The Grand America.
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