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Keith McCord ReportingAnother Salt Lake City landmark has closed its doors. The Old Salt City Jail restaurant served its final meal this past Saturday night. Tomorrow, everything inside will be sold at an auction, and we mean EVERYTHING!
It's been a fixture on Salt Lake's east side for more than 30-years. The Old Salt City Jail, decorated to feel like the old west, lunch and dinner served in small cells complete with iron bars.
Ken Jackson, Owner, Auction Marketplace: "Yeah, it's been here for 30 years or more. A lot of people have memories of being here and having dinner. It's always been a steak house for as long as I can remember."
Ken Jackson and his staff have been inside all week, marking all the items that bidders will try to buy. There are hundreds of items there and it all has to go. Everything is for sale, from the tables, dozens of chairs, to the iron jail bar doors. All the dishes will sell, the pots and pans too. A turn-of-the-century wood burning stove is likely to fetch 300-400 dollars.
Ken Jackson: "Plus you have a full-size range, a grill, another grill down there, a deep fryer on the end."
Rugs, silverware, salt and pepper shakers -- if you're a memorabilia or antique collector, there's probably something for you.
Ken Jackson: "We're going to have a wide variety of customers here because of the uniqueness of selling the decor as well as the restaurant equipment."
The restaurant is closing because the Anniversary Inn, which occupies the same building, is going to expand and needs the space.
Ken Jackson says it'll probably take more than three hours to sell everything; the auction could bring in as much as 30-thousand dollars.
Ken Jackson: "We're losing a landmark here. A lot of people are gonna have a tear in their eye when we wrap up the auction. When it's all done, they'll walk away and say, 'wow, we can't go there anymore for lunch.'"
The bidding begins at 10 am Thursday. If you're interested in bidding, you'll have to register. You can do it at the restaurant beginning at 8:30 tomorrow or online at www.funutahauctions.com.
