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SALT LAKE CITY — Talitha Day fondly remembers the humble beginnings of the John W. Gallivan Utah Center plaza.
The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City swooped in on a blighted downtown area known as Block 57 and helped turn it around in the early 1980s, starting with funding for the One Utah Center. The RDA then turned about $6.5 million into a large plaza outside of the tower in the heart of downtown when it opened in July 1993, naming it after Gallivan, a prominent newspaper publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune.
"It started out mostly as a park with a lot of benches and art," said Day, Gallivan Center director. She was standing on the plaza's back amphitheater Thursday evening as the Joe Muscolino Band performed a soulful cover of Van Morrison's classic "Moondance" at the center's nearby stage.
The venue, which quickly became known as Salt Lake City's "living room," had a few other components and hosted events. It also had a summer pond to balance out its small winter ice rink at the time, which was later removed to increase the size of the ice rink and add in the Gallivan Hall event center.
Now, 30 years after it opened, Day helps oversee about 400 events every year that either her small team produces or are booked by others looking for event space. These include the Excellence in the Community concert series, the popular Food Truck Thursdays and, more recently, the Salt Lake City Twilight Concert Series. The larger ice rink brings in about 15,000 skaters every winter, as well.
Day smiles as she recalls the time Adele performed on the stage in 2011 or the first time she met Cupbop founder Jung Song, as he debuted his now-famous food truck at the plaza in 2013. Of course, it was also a major gathering place during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and also hosted several community events for this year's NBA All-Star Game, as well.
"It's amazing," she says, of the venue's growth over the past three decades.
Gallivan Center's role in Salt Lake's downtown growth
Salt Lake City's living room hasn't been the only thing to grow over the past 30 years — the rest of the house has, too. Some of the city's tallest buildings were constructed within a block of the plaza, including the Wells Fargo Center. It remains the state's tallest building until it is dethroned by the forthcoming Astra Tower, which already looms large over the plaza's northeast corner.
However, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said she isn't sure the growth would have happened without the RDA's "wise" and "forward-thinking" decision to transform Block 57 into a plaza decades ago.
Utah's capital was far from growing at the beginning of the 1980s. Its population slipped from 189,454 during the 1960 census to 163,033 by the 1980 census, before it slid by another 3,000 people by the start of the 1990s as many residents flocked to the suburbs.
"And yet (the RDA) saw that we needed a space like this to bring concerts in — small and large — and to be arts festivals and free events for the public," Mendenhall said. "It really shows the forward-looking nature of the redevelopment agency."
The city's turnaround began in the 1990s. Its population surged to 181,767 residents by the 2000 census and that growth hasn't stopped, reaching its largest population on record during the 2020 census. The Census Bureau estimates the city is now home to more than 200,000 residents.
The plaza is a major contributor to this resurgence, at least in some city leaders' eyes.
Salt Lake City Councilwoman Ana Valdemoros, who represents Salt Lake City's downtown area, says the plaza became an incubator for arts, business and food in the city. Not only is it where Cupbop originated, but she also credits events hosted at Gallivan Center for helping her open her own business, Argentina's Best Empanadas.
"It's become this hub of creativity ... right in the heart of downtown," she said. "I wholeheartedly believe the Gallivan has had a lot of (influence) for this development to happen around it."
Looking to the next 30 years
Salt Lake City leaders are already planning for more growth within blocks of the Gallivan Center.
Astra Tower is one of several new residential skyscrapers that have either been recently built or will open in the next few years. It's possible this new growth could spur even more changes to the Gallivan Center in the future, especially as more residential projects and leisure activities have sparked the downtown economy in the few years since the COVID-19 pandemic, Valdemoros explains.
Our space is growing vertically, but the Gallivan Center remains really this living room.
–Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall
It's essentially one of two downtown parks for residents who live in the area. The RDA still owns the property and its leaders, including Mendenhall and Valdemoros, have had discussions here and there about how to improve the space, the councilwoman said. Valdemoros said she would like changes to include more trees and an "even greener" green space to accommodate downtown park needs.
There's no timeline for these changes to take place, though. The only certainty, at least in Mendenhall's mind, is that the Gallivan Center will serve as a valuable asset for the city over the next 30 years, just as it has in its first 30.
She envisions more concerts like the one Day helped arrange Thursday, and more food trucks that serve residents and visitors.
"It's so important ... to have green open space that people can come down and bring their brown bag and hear a concert at lunchtime, meet up for food trucks, hear international jazz acts or just walk their dogs or sit in the shade somewhere," Mendenhall said. "Our space is growing vertically, but the Gallivan Center remains really this living room."
