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SALT LAKE CITY -- From everyday citizens to U.S. presidents and celebrities, the staff at the old Hotel Utah hosted them all. The stories they are telling can touch your heart or make you laugh.
A 100th Anniversary Gala took place Friday night at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building as Gov. Gary Herbert and Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker paid tribute to the historic landmark.
They gathered to celebrate with a dinner very similar to one that took place 100 years ago. Music from an era gone by played in the lobby as diners ate.
Do you have a special memory of the Hotel Utah/Joseph Smith Memorial Building? Share them on the 100 Year Anniversary website.
"It was intended to be a place that would cross all barriers -- religious, cultural, political and anything else -- for those who lived in the community and those who would come to Salt Lake City and would visit." said Mark Willes, CEO of Deseret Management Corporation.
Before the event, the evening's guests and public visitors watched clips from a BYU-TV documentary about the old Hotel Utah, now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
BYU Broadcasting producer Rob Sibley is the film's creator. He studied biographies of politicians and celebrities and scoured historic documents, as well as collected information from people who submitted their own personal stories of the building.
"The hotel, on many occasions during the World War II years, had an over 100 percent occupancy rate because soldiers would come and they'd set up cots in some of the ballrooms so that they could spend the night and have a good meal," Sibley said.
No one was supposed to know about some of the hotel guests, like Elvis Presley, who performed at the Salt Palace in 1971.
Marlin Furse, a former Hotel Utah staff member, told his story in the documentary. "It was really top secret when they brought him in here, and then he performed his concert. I was on duty that night as a bellman, and after the concert it was kind of funny to watch all these women, girls, women of all ages just fill the lobby, fill the mezzanine. They figured he was staying here 'cause this was the place."
That's the message of the documentary: This was truly the place.
"It helps people understand it's not just the building, it's the emotions that are brought about as people come here and as they have experiences here," Sibley said.
All exhibits will remain in the lobby through mid- September. The documentary is set to debut in December on BYU-TV.
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