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SALT LAKE CITY -- In the midst of all of the big cranes and bustling construction in downtown Salt Lake City, one stunning restoration project is nearly complete.
Next Thursday, the O.C. Tanner Company will open its flagship jewelry store, which includes the largest laser stone project in the world.
O.C. Tanner CEO David Petersen says the two-year restoration project is a gift to the city from everyone at the company.
"This is, we hope, a gem for downtown Salt Lake City," Petersen said.
The three-story jewelry store opens next week at 15 S. State Street in the original City Library and Hansen Planetarium building. In honor of company founder Obert Clark Tanner, the company wanted to create America's most beautiful jewelry store.
"Although it is a retail enterprise, it's open to the public--as was the planetarium, as was the original city library," Petersen said. "We think it's a great addition to downtown."
Inside, construction workers are finishing off the work on a three-story spiral staircase. Workers are also busy preparing the jewelry cases for opening day, but the artistry within the building is stunning.
Hanging from the ceiling in the center of the building: a 26-foot light sculpture made up of 4,000 strands of end-emitting fiber optics.
Outside on the rear wall: the largest laser stone-carving project in the world, with 18 panels and 44,000 pounds of stone in all. It's the creation of Catherine Shuman, a West Jordan mother of six who started her own business in her dining room seven years ago. It's called Decoro Art Stone.
Shuman says these panels were unlike anything she's worked with before.
"Our largest ones weigh up to 1,700 pounds each. They're massive," Shuman said. "Just to be able to move them around, we had to create special trays and moving devices just to get them from place to place."
The panel images are a tribute to the building's history. On the bottom, a scene from the library. On top, the M101 Galaxy. In the middle, company founder O.C. Tanner.
"It's sort of a marriage of original and new, as we celebrate the history of the building and look forward," Petersen said.
Shuman invented and patented the eight-step stone-carving technique with a partner earlier this year.
"You scan the photograph, it comes up on your computer, and then you just manipulate it bigger and smaller--in this case, very big," Shuman explained. "Then you send it through to the laser, and the laser does just what it says and etches it out."
The Dolomite Limestone panels are well-traveled too. They were quarried in Wisconsin, taken to Massachusetts for the engraving process, and then shipped to Utah for a total of 3,900 miles.
Shuman is thrilled with the finished product and glad she had a chance to participate in the renovation of the building.
"They spared no expense to create this beautiful emblem. I mean, it's amazing," she said.
It's an investment of $24 million that the company wants to share with the community.
"This has a public purpose, and we hope that people will feel free to come in and look at the stately nature of the building, both on the outside and the contemporary feel on the inside," said Curtis Bennett, O.C. Tanner's vice president of retail.
Company leaders say it portrays a sense of beauty O.C. Tanner would have loved.
The store opens to the public next Thursday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
