The Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center, more commonly known as the Salt Palace, is a
convention center in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. Named after Utah's 11th governor,
Calvin L. Rampton, the name "Salt Palace" was previously used by two other venues in the city.
First Salt Palace (1899–1910)
![Salt Palace 1910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Salt_Palace_1910.jpg)
The original Salt Palace was built in 1899 under the direction of
Richard K.A. Kletting
Richard Karl August Kletting (July 1, 1858 – September 25, 1943) was an influential architect in Utah. He designed many well-known buildings, including the Utah State Capitol, the Enos Wall Mansion (which now houses the Thomas S. Monson Center), ...
, architect, and owned by John Franklin Heath. It stood on 900 South, between State Street and Main Street in Salt Lake City. The Salt Palace was a frame structure covered by large pieces of rock salt, which gave it its name. The Palace had a large dome and was lit at night with hundreds of light bulbs. The building held a theater and was the centerpiece of an amusement park that included a dance hall, a bandstand, a bicycle racing track, rides, and other amusements. The Salt Palace and some of the other elements of the park were destroyed by fire on August 29, 1910.
Second Salt Palace (arena) (1969–1994)
The second Salt Palace in Salt Lake City was in use from 1969 to 1994, hosting among other events the home games of the
Utah Stars
The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.
History prior to moving t ...
and
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...
basketball teams, and the
Salt Lake Golden Eagles
The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994.
History
They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...
ice hockey team.
Janet Jackson's
Rhythm Nation Tour became the fastest sell-out in Salt Palace history. Tickets for the June 18 concert were sold out in a record 1 hour and 20 minutes after the box office opened. A 1991 concert by rock band
AC/DC resulted in three deaths and many injuries when the audience rushed towards the stage and trampled or trapped people.
This version of the Salt Palace was demolished in 1994.
Current Salt Palace (Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center) (1995–present)
![Salt palace hallway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Salt_palace_hallway.jpg)
Built on the site of the demolished arena, the current convention center boasts of exhibit space, of meeting space including a grand ballroom, and 66 meeting rooms. The Salt Palace served as the Olympic Media Center during the
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
.
In honor of the "founding father" of Salt Lake's convention and tourism business, as well as Utah's proactive economic development efforts, the
Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...
Council voted to officially change the name of the Salt Palace Convention Center to the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center in the fall of 2007.
FanX
FanX Salt Lake (formerly Salt Lake Comic Con) is a semi-annual multi-genre pop culture expo held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is produced by Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg under Dan Farr Productions and is Utah's most attended con ...
, the biannual comic book convention, has been held at the Salt Palace Convention Center since September 2013.
A Republican presidential debate hosted by
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
was scheduled to take place at the Salt Palace Convention Center on March 21, 2016. The event was cancelled after front-runner
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
said he would not participate and fellow candidate
John Kasich
John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...
said he would not participate without Trump.
A small public park formerly occupied the southeast corner of the building which, starting in 2020, was closed for construction as the site of a new 25-story, 700 room hotel tower that will house a
Hyatt Regency
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...
. The $377 million project, which will also add 60,000 square feet of meeting space to the Salt Palace, is a collaboration with Portman Holdings and
Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...
and is currently on schedule to be delivered in 2022.
Solar panels
On May 24, 2012, a 1.65 MW solar array was completed on the roof. Covering an area of , at the time it was the largest
solar array in Utah. It is expected to provide 17% of the electricity used by the Salt Palace.
Bella Energy completes largest solar array in Utah
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References
External links
*
Utah State Historical Society
{{WFTDA venues
Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City
Burned buildings and structures in the United States
Convention centers in Utah
Olympic International Broadcast Centres
Venues of the 2002 Winter Olympics