The City of South Salt Lake relishes a rich history, more than the current physical structure of the city invokes. When the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, settlements were quickly established on the fertile strip of land flanking the river flowing out of the Wasatch mountains to the east, later named Millcreek, as irrigation ditches were dug, and the valley's finest farms, orchards, and dairies were established on the flat alluvial landscape. The plan for Salt Lake City 's blocks ended at 900 South (today 2100 South). The area to the south of Salt Lake's southern edge to present day 2700 South, was referred to as the "Big Field," where the pioneers cultivated their needed crops in the abundant fields. Originally, the area was made up of three distinct unincorporated areas: Millcreek, Central Park and Southgate and the area continued to be sparsely populated agricultural land, with parcels allocated in five- to twenty-acre units, until about 1870. Around that time, local businesses began to develop including Husler's Mill, built about 1865 on the banks of Millcreek onTerritory Road, which is today's vehicular behemoth, State Street.
Husler Mill, ca. 1921 |
Wandamere Park 1911 |
State Street looking south from 2100 South |
Miller School and Mormon Church, 3300 South, ca. 1910 |
St. Ann's Orphanage, ca. 1910. |
The Granite Tabernacle was built by the Mormon Church in 1903 on the northeast corner of 3300 South and State Street. The Granite Tabernacle was considered one of the finest tabernacles, with a tower rising 133 feet and a dome arching seventy feet over the assembly hall that seated 2,500 people. Unfortunately, the landmark building was demolished in 1956 and the site is today imperiously occupied by a Megaplex theater.
Granite Stake Tabernacle, ca. 1910. |
In 1936, several area businessmen formed the South Salt Lake Businessmen's Association to address the issue of using septic tanks or open cesspools which drained into local creeks, and decided to put the issue of incorporation to a vote. Against strong opposition, the vote passed on September 28, 1938 , and the City of South Salt Lake was incorporated. The sewer was built for $462,000 using mostly pick axes and shovels. The City of South Salt Lake was the result of a pragmatic collaboration by forward looking business owners to provide sewer treatment and municipal water services to the businesses and residents living in the shadows of Utah ’s capital. The founding of South Salt Lake is thematically tied to secession, given the unwillingness and lack of commitment on the part of Salt Lake City to respond to growing needs, the city fathers set out to create a community to serve the residents, businesses and farms populating the area in an effort to create an individual civic identity and community.
City of South Salt Lake Landmark |
So what’s happened since that time? South Salt Lake ’s history quietly eroded away being overrun by a monotonous landscape filled with Salt Lake ’s leftover industry. South Salt Lake has lost numerous historic buildings and landscapes and is now segregated from communion with Salt Lake City and its own west side, cut off by Interstate-80 and I-15. The hub of the most traversed intersection in the state, the “Spaghetti Bowl,” filled with a complex array of on and off ramps, rushes travelers through the city at enormously high speeds. In addition to the mid century transportation infrastructure, South Salt Lake is the site of a large commuter transit hub, the Central Pointe station connecting Sandy-Salt Lake and the Salt Lake-Daybreak line.
As the City embarks on their journey into the 21st century, a visionary mayor and city council are attempting to build a sustainable and livable community atop the existing framework of disjunction and fracture, “a city on the move.” Mayor Cherie Wood asserts, “Those who live here realize that these city lines contain all that could be desired in a community.” While the statement is an exaggerated attempt to sell the city to business and residents alike, there is an element of truth to the statement. The more accurate statement would be that “these city lines could contain all that could be desired in a community.” There remain mountains of work to do. One effort that has languished in the poor economy is the Market Station project, a large scale mixed use development centered around the light-rail transit hub at Central Pointe. In addition, by 2013, a street car line is expected to run along an existing rail line just south of 2100 South (the northern border of the city) from the Central Pointe TRAX station to the Sugar House neighborhood. These progressive developments are pointing the city in the right direction, however there needs to be a centralizing force, a project which coalesces all of these important elements into one shared whole.
Proposed Market Station, 2100 South and Main Street |
To that end, the most significant component of that vision is the effort on the part of the city leaders to establish a city center, a symbol of the community. Rather than redefining or inventing a symbol for the community, the city has set its sights on historic Granite High School , recently vacated by the school district due to declining attendance and shifting demographics. The opportunity to purchase the property presented itself and the city of South Salt Lake embarked on the road to acquisition by putting the decision to the voters of South Salt Lake in a $25 million dollar bond proposal.
Granite Senior High School, 1934. |
Home to one of the highest per capita violent crime rates in Utah , the status quo of South Salt Lake is so ingrained in the voters’ minds that they necessarily reject any proposal geared toward improving their community, creating civic identity, and establishing a sense of place. South Salt Lake lacks any identifiable city center, physical or symbolic; and no, having a City Hall housed inside a billboard off of I-80 does not count. The Granite High Bond was regrettably defeated, 1006 against to 1001 for.
City of South Salt Lake City Hall, as viewed from I-80 |
Artist rendering of redeveloped Granite High School Campus |
So to a missed opportunity, a reiteration of the fight song of the Granite High Farmers is warranted:
“When sight and sound of the campus
Fade in the long, busy years
Yet will return in our memories
Echoes of old songs and cheers.
You, of the field, track and diamond,
Fighters for clean victory,
You who love the fair, square sport,
You'll hear the song of the "G".
Go it Granite, go it Granite
Hear the battle cry;
Go it Granite, go it Granite
Yours 'til we die.
She will remember, you'll not forget her
Though you are far away
She is calling, calling to you ever
Honor the grand old "G"!”
© 2011 Steven Daniel Cornell