The Utah Pantages Theatre Redevelopment Thread

[Atlas]

This thread is coming a little late (the theatre is all but lost at this point) but considering the intense conversation is increasingly cluttering up the main development thread, I think it's reasonable to divert it to its own separate thread. Let's keep the topic here and keep it civil!

The latest from today:

Is it curtains for the Utah Theater? Judge denies move to block demolition

A judge refused on Tuesday to temporarily block Salt Lake City from issuing demolition permits to developers wanting to tear down the historic Utah Theater on Main Street.

Third District Judge Robert Faust denied a motion by historic preservationists for a temporary restraining order against the city and its Redevelopment Agency, noting “glaring” legal problems with their approach, including suing city officials over the matter but not the property’s current owner.

Faust left open the option for Friends of the Utah Pantages Cinematic Theatre to revise and refile their request, which seeks to put demolition on hold while the group pursues a lawsuit to invalidate the city’s sale of the run-down property to developer Hines for construction of a luxury residential tower on the site.

For the uninitiated, here's a quick summary:

In one corner, we have the SLC RDA and Hines. The SLC city government purchased the theatre more than a decade ago and had been trying to figure out what to do with it. They made a deal with the multi-billion dollar developer Hines with some (pretty weak) requirements. Hines decided that they would demolish the theatre and build a 31-story apartment tower featuring a midblock walkway and a privately-maintained, public pocket park on the roof of the parking garage. The deal was signed by the mayor's office in 2019 and the land was legally conveyed to Hines in 2021. Wikipedia has more info.



In the other corner, the persistent and scrappy "Save the Utah Pantages Theatre" group which has been doing everything in their power to stop the deal and renovate the theatre (despite it being a done deal). They're very passionate that the deal can still be stopped, that the money for the restoration/rebuild is out there, and that SLC needs a grand movie theatre. Here's what the theatre currently looks like, post 1960s-era gutting:



The theatre is a bit of an oddball: it's set back from the street and is connected via a long corridor. The street frontage is nothing special, having been altered long ago much like the interior:



There's a lot more detail to this, but I think that's a good primer on the situation.

[EPdesign]

Was there ever a group interested in actually fixing it up? Like and actually developer or theater company, not just locals?

[Makid]

Originally Posted by EPdesign

Was there ever a group interested in actually fixing it up? Like and actually developer or theater company, not just locals?

Howa was interested and actually did do some minor restoration (Tiffany Skylight) but was running into rising costs and funding issues. It is what ultimately lead him to sell the theater to the City. He couldn't justify the costs to rebuild the theater and ultimately didn't be the one to ask for the theater to be demolished. He had hoped that the City could rebuild the theater but knew it may be a hard sell.

Even when the City was using the RDA to get developers to buy into the restoration in exchange for developing the front of the property, developers couldn't justify the expenses due to a lack of accessible parking. This is what ultimately doomed Howa and I think the Cities attempts to find an RDA partner to rebuild the theater.

No project on the eastern portion of the theater land could be successful with the theater in place. No programmer would support the theater without dedicated or nearby contracted parking guarantees. These items mean that the theater would need to rely on grants and public funds for the rebuild and grants + public funds to program, maintain, and staff the theater.

While many will feel that the city is losing history with the loss of the theater, we need to remember, the theater was lost roughly 50 years ago. We should be happy that anything is able to be saved and reused from the theater at all. At least, that is how I am looking at it. We are able to preserve and reuse portions of a lost theater. It's memories will remain in thanks to the sale of the theater to Hines via the digital preservation. These items will ensure that history is not lost and also to help push for the preservation of structures that are still able to be saved for reasonable costs, with or without public assistance.

[Paniolo Man]

I only care about the skylight, I'll breathe easy when I see confirmation that it has been saved. Any updates on that?

[i-215]

Perhaps this has already been considered:

What about pressuring the developer to LIDAR the crap out of the old theater, demolish it, and include a replica (or even scale replica) at the base of the new tower? In exchange, bonus the developer with looser height/parking requirements to offset the cost?

Sounds cheaper than trying to save the old one. Save as much original stuff as you can (skylight, et. al) and install it in the replica.

[Reeder113]

[delts145]

So far I've been very impressed with the Hines developments in Houston and their Kearns Building restoration, redevelopment, and reuse in Salt Lake City. I'm going to guess that the reuse of original elements of the Pantages throughout the new Tower will be first class. If what they've done so far in decades-long extensive work in Texas and their beginnings in Salt Lake is any indication, I hope they will become a lot more active in the Salt Lake market.

Take a look at some of what they've done with the Kearns. The Industrious Office - https://www.hines.com/news/hines-ind...salt-lake-city

[Atlas]

There haven't been any updates on the Hines side of things lately. If I had to put money on it, I would bet that they've already started interior demolition/removal. They covered all of the windows up awhile back and we know that they've already stripped the inside of the former barbershop.

Like delts, I'm also of the persuasion that Hines will do a good job repurposing elements like the skylight in the new building. The skylight has been mentioned by name, so I would think that it's guaranteed to be saved. I hope they are also interested in reusing the marble floors and some of the ornamentation, perhaps in the building's first floor or somehow incorporated into the park space. After all, some of the documents call it "Pantages Park" but that may just be a placeholder name.

[Atlas]

What was just a rumor before has seemingly been confirmed. "Save the Pantages" guy posted a picture today on social media showing panels of the old theatre's skylight being loaded onto a truck.

Hines was probably obligated to get a permit for this work but clearly made the decision to deal with whatever fines come with this violation.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by Atlas

What was just a rumor before has seemingly been confirmed. "Save the Pantages" guy posted a picture today on social media showing panels of the old theatre's skylight being loaded onto a truck.

Hines was probably obligated to get a permit for this work but clearly made the decision to deal with whatever fines come with this violation.

As long as it isn't structural, the owner of the property/building can make changes. A homeowner can take down their doors, and even replace their cabinets without a permit.

This does mean that Hines could remove all the remaining ornate features from the building without a permit. Outside of their contract with the City to preserve some items for reuse, they do not need to preserve or protect the other features.

I think that Hines could even begin to strip and remove everything else in the theater as well. Hines couldn't touch any of the businesses that have sued but anything else could potentially be fair game, as long as it isn't structural.

[StevenF]

I had some work done on my vehicle that took 4 hours and decided to take a walk downtown this morning since it was 12 blocks away. I walked up main then into City Creek and then to Temple Square. As I walked past the Pantages Theatre there was some scaffolding on a trailer outside and assumed it was being taken inside the theatre for the work they are doing inside.

[Atlas]

A few observations at this point in time:

• The demolition permits are still under review at the city
• The interior of the theatre is likely completely gutted now. They had a separate permit to do interior work.
• I just realized that the acronym for "Save The Utah Pantages Theatre" is STUPT, which is kind of hilarious.
• STUPT's previous lawsuit against the city was dismissed but they've come back with some kind of lawsuit against Hines. Doesn't seem like they have much legal standing to stop a property owner from demolishing its property. The time for effective legal action was probably before the property ownership changed.
• Demolition fencing has gone up around the theatre so I'd expect demo to commence within hours after the permits are issued.
• STUPT plans to form a "human chain" around the theatre.

[Paniolo Man]

Originally Posted by Atlas

A few observations at this point in time:

• STUPT plans to form a "human chain" around the theatre.

All 5 of them may find that difficult.

[Boz]

Damn hippies.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

All 5 of them may find that difficult.

Not 5. There are dozens of them. DOZENS!!!

[i2theSKY]

He's been kicking around running for mayor as well. What a train wreck that would be for future developments! He does have dozens of supporters, so I guess it's possible.

[i-215]

Originally Posted by airhero

Not 5. There are dozens of them. DOZENS!!!

Live video from the protest:



Maybe I'm in the minority, but I can sympathize with the opposition to demolition. The theater certainly has history, even if it's been hidden from the public eye for decades. I still advocate for building some kind of reduced-scale replica in the new development as compromise.

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by i-215

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I can sympathize with the opposition to demolition. The theater certainly has history, even if it's been hidden from the public eye for decades.

I think this is what we all think. It's just that Mr. Patton has turned the endeavor to save the theatre into a farce. I get that STUPT has been stonewalled by the city, which I'm sure was frustrating, but I also think he hasn't helped the cause by slandering the mayor and other members of the RDA and constantly making hyperbolic statements about the building and the situation. He literally says that the present housing crisis is caused by Erin Mendenhall and thinks the solution is to stop all new development and kowtow to the Rose Park Brown Berets.

Elections have consequences (see Biskupski re:Utah Theatre) and I really hope the people of SLC can see through this guy and not put him in the mayor's chair.

[Atlas]

The theatre is already being demolished from the inside out. From STUPT's Facebook page:

[Reeder113]

Good. Let's get this over with.