Salt Lake City's historic headquarters could soon be renamed

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City-County Building's name made sense when it was built over a century ago, housing offices for both Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County.

However, as Utah's capital city and most populous county have grown, their offices have literally drifted apart, and it's left many residents confused. That's why Salt Lake City is ready to officially rename the historic building, located at 451 S. State, to clear up that confusion.

City leaders are considering a new ordinance that would officially rename the building from Salt Lake City-County Building to Salt Lake City Hall across all documents, which it argues better aligns with "the name with its function and use."

"The intent will be we change this for good, so people looking for the county don't come here. That's the hope," said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Alejandro Puy, as the idea was brought up during a work session on Tuesday.

The building first opened in December 1894, following approximately three years of construction. City offices were kept on the north end of the building and county offices on the south at the beginning, state historians noted in a report about its history compiled in 1970, when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Beyond offices and meeting areas, it housed Salt Lake City's first library and also contained courtrooms.

Despite its name, the building also served as a key home for the state for a short time. Utah received statehood a little more than a year after the building opened, and the City-County Building was used as the state's first Capitol building until the state was able to convene at the modern-day Utah Capitol for the first time in 1915.

As both the city and county grew, it became harder to share the same space, though.

Salt Lake County eventually moved out of the building in the 1980s, relocating to its current base at 2001 S. State. It's now in the process of moving again, after acquiring the old Overstock headquarters in Midvale.

The historic building name hasn't changed despite the county's move, still appearing as the official name of the building on online map services like Google, although it also lists Salt Lake City Hall as an informal name. Some people still believe there are county services because of the name.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall already initiated a process that has incorporated "Salt Lake City Hall" in a few instances, including some of the building's recent entrance signs, to clear up the air.

What's being proposed by City Council would take it another step further. The conversation started talking about different ordinances, where leaders questioned why "Salt Lake City-County Building" was still on ordinances coming through the city, Puy explained to KSL after the meeting.

"I think it's worth it to have clarity for the public about where they should go when they address their local governments," added City Councilman Chris Wharton, voicing his support.

The city's public services division plans to present the name change proposal to a committee that manages the building for review, and with a positive recommendation, it will begin identifying all city code sections that would require updates.

The City Council could vote on the change as early as Sept. 15, per its calendar. It doesn't require a public hearing as an administrative change.

City officials plan to reach out to search engine and online map companies to adjust the official name, if it clears all the remaining hurdles. Staff learned about the process to make those changes earlier this year, when the city changed the honorary name for 500 South from Cesar Chavez to Dolores Huerta Boulevard.

"I'm happy there is a very simple change," Puy said. "We just need to change language on documents; there's not really any big impact on costs to change that. We're not going to start changing the signs and whatnot."

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