Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[Liberty Wellsian]

I took a closer look at MSG's renovations. Disregard previous post.

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by Comrade

It's disappointing. I was hoping for more street engagement and an overall rework of the facade, which has always been ugly.

It's definitely nowhere near the level of interior renovations MSG saw. But then, we're not New York.







I don't mind the interior upgrades, but it's still a box with a smaller box attached to it. Meh.

I agree. Hard to believe that this renovation, at 300% of original build cost isn't more aggressive. I like the interior improvements but I don't think this is well spent TIF dollars. SLC should have pushed harder. Perhaps a sky bridge to gateway or some hat tip to the neighborhood? Maybe some street level retail, performance space or fan experience? Blah. GO JAZZ!

EDIT: Original build cost was $93 million in old dollars.

[wrendog]

Nothing is being done in the seating area of the arena? This is all concourse and locker room work? I was expecting the seating interior to have a major overhaul to modernize the look.

Oh well.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Nothing is being done in the seating area of the arena? This is all concourse and locker room work? I was expecting the seating interior to have a major overhaul to modernize the look.

Oh well.

The arena is getting new seats.

[Future Mayor]

In response to the Arena is ugly opinions, yes you can have your opinions, but one thing that was pointed out in the press conference is that the original structure wasn't built in a gimmicky style, and while it isn't overly attractive, it hasn't become a gimmicky eyesore either, which would require a complete overhaul. For the amount of money they are spending they will get a lot more interior upgrades because they don't have to do an entire facade update.

Another thing that was pointed out was that the newer arena are going with a lot more glass on the facade. Vivint Arena already has a huge amount of glass on the facade.

As a Jazz fan I'm pretty pleased with the updates. The main point of the upgrades and new arenas is to enhance the fan experience. I think that is being accomplished very well, while adding a few new elements to the exterior, but all for the purpose of enhancing the fan experience.

[DCRes]

A lot of times, the All Star game is awarded to teams with newly built stadiums. It would be a lot of fun if Salt Lake were to get the all star game back in a few years. It hasn't been here since 1993, shortly after the Delta Center was completed.

[DCRes]

I didn't expect many changes to the exterior, and as Future Mayor pointed out, the style of the building is classic enough that it has stood the test of time. I think the interior renovations will be great and I'm excited to see them. I also think that the engagement of the north-east corner will be pretty good. It will be a nice plaza and the new screens will be a nice feature. Hopefully the atrium addition fits in well with the existing building and not just like a cheap addition. But it sounds like they are committed to doing this right.

[RonnyRAGE]

The saddest thing about the Arena's meh upgrade is it appears that SLC has thrown in the towel on having a world class multi sport facility. For Hockey or Arena Football it will still be a pit.

This also weakens the chances of SLC2026 happening. Figure skater during the 2002 games constantly complained about skating in the pit.

I was hoping they would have surprised us with building the CCH on the east side with a sky bridge connecting to the Salt Palace Convention Center.

Not my first choice of location but at least it would get built.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by RonnyRAGE

The saddest thing about the Arena's meh upgrade is it appears that SLC has thrown in the towel on having a world class multi sport facility. For Hockey or Arena Football it will still be a pit.

This also weakens the chances of SLC2026 happening. Figure skater during the 2002 games constantly complained about skating in the pit.

I was hoping they would have surprised us with building the CCH on the east side with a sky bridge connecting to the Salt Palace Convention Center.

Not my first choice of location but at least it would get built.

Source?

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

Source?

Source? Anyone who watched the 2002 figure skating. They were skating in a pit with 40 foot walls on the ends and 20 foot walls around the rest of the perimeter. Most athletes like fans to be closer to engage with them. Who wants to perform to massive walls?

[asies1981]

The 111 Main tower is officially open! Officials cut the ribbon on the building and the views from the top are pretty amazing.

[AllOutOfBubbleGum]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Source? Anyone who watched the 2002 figure skating. They were skating in a pit with 40 foot walls on the ends and 20 foot walls around the rest of the perimeter. Most athletes like fans to be closer to engage with them. Who wants to perform to massive walls?

Have you met figure skaters and their families.


I've actually spoken to IOC and SLOC people and none of them ever had a bad thing to say about Salt Lakes Olympics and it's facilities. doesn't mean there's not some single person that didn't think that. If the U was forward thinking they would rebuild the Huntsman Center to be the building for Figure skating if it came to the 2026 Olympics.

[arkhitektor]

Basically, all of the collapsible seating has to be removed to fit a skating rink inside Vivint Arena:





They did their best to dress the blank walls up for the olympics, but the effect was still that the rink was in a pit below the spectators:

[TheWire]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Most athletes like fans to be closer to engage with them. Who wants to perform to massive walls?

To be fair, Vivint Arena is considered to be world class in this respect. The angle of the bowl allows more verticality than most arenas in the country, particularly in the NBA. This allows fans to be "on top of the action" and much closer to the athletes. Opposing NBA teams frequently talk about this and how much it gives a home court advantage to the Jazz.

[ToysNoiz]

Jeez, some of you guys are truly unpleaseable.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by ToysNoiz

Jeez, some of you guys are truly unpleaseable.

I was just pointing out the arena's shortcomings as a skating rink, which aren't really important because it isn't a skating rink 99% of the time. It will be a fantastic place to watch a basketball game, and we should be greatful the Millers are making the improvements and paying for it themselves. It would make no sense for them to spend hundreds of millions more to rebuild the entire seating bowl to better accommodate a skating rink on the 1 in 1,000 chance that Salt Lake hosts the Olympics again in 10 years.

[Makid]

I heard something today on the radio and I think it is the first time it has been said.

When referencing both 111 and the UPAC, they mentioned the Theater's full name and in referencing 111, they called it the "Goldman Sacs Tower".

Has anyone else heard anything about this?

I am wondering if this is the official name of the building or just something similar to people calling One Utah Center, the Chase Building.

[Liberty Wellsian]

lift the ice?

[Comrade]

I think people are disappointed because the buzz made it sound like Vivint would see some serious renovations. To me, it's better - but it's still the same arena.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I think people are disappointed because the buzz made it sound like Vivint would see some serious renovations. To me, it's better - but it's still the same arena.

True, but I still think we're lucky because the Millers could have easily just sold the team to new owners or demanded that we build a new publicly funded arena at Thanksgiving Point under threat of moving the team to Seattle. All things considered, I think a $100 million private investment in the Vivint is more than we could have expected anyway.