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SALT LAKE CITY — A future museum that will display various pieces of Utah history is beginning to shape north of the Utah Capitol a little more than two years into the project.
And while construction is expected to continue for at least another year and a half, state historians recently offered a better idea of how the facility will function once it opens in 2026. The Utah Historical Society provided "a sneak peek inside" the future Museum of Utah through a video posted online last week.
Tim Glenn, director of the Museum of Utah, explains in the video what the museum layout will look like. He said it will contain some special exhibit and retail space but will primarily feature four permanent galleries connecting different Utah history themes: "Becoming Utah," "Connecting Utah," "Building Utah" and "Inspiring Utah."
Becoming Utah will start with life before the state's pioneer settlers arrived in 1847. Glenn said the state is working with the federally recognized Native American tribes in Utah to tell their stories in the museum, while it will also tell stories of the pioneers and others who have moved into the state since.
Events, faith, art, values, shared experiences, sports and other ways Utahns have been able to connect over time are a staple of the Connecting Utah gallery. Building Utah will feature the history and growth of Utah's industries, buildings and infrastructure.
And Inspiring Utah will display pop culture artifacts and other items that "show off what Utah is," Glenn said. This includes nods to the state's national wonders and other notable claims to fame.
All of it will be accessible to the public at no charge.
"Whatever level of interest in Utah's history and Utah's stories, we're going to be able to provide it in this museum," he said.
The space will feature some of the tens of thousands of artifacts housed within the massive state history collection, which was previously stored inside the Rio Grande Depot in downtown Salt Lake City. Utah Historical Society officials lobbied for a museum and new space to store the collection in 2018, noting unsafe conditions threatened the existence of photos, books, maps, manuscripts and other valuable artifacts in the collection.
One of the fears at the time was realized two years later when the historic building was damaged by the 5.7-magnitude earthquake that rattled the Wasatch Front. While the building suffered noticeable damage, the collection was determined to be OK.
"Where we got really lucky with the artifacts, is the sprinklers did not go off. There was no significant debris that came down in the basement to break or damage any of those artifacts," said Josh Loftin, the agency's spokesman at the time.
The state began moving the entire collection out of the building in 2021 to make way for a major seismic retrofit and renovation of the Rio Grande Depot. State history officials say the project has hit some snags and may now be completed in 2028 at the earliest. Many artifacts were moved to a temporary facility in Midvale, which opened up some public access last year.
Meanwhile, construction on the museum began in 2022. The Utah Historical Society's initial museum plan called for a new building behind the Rio Grande Depot, but the idea was eventually moved to the Utah Capitol. The change was made when the state worked to fill in a gap that would exist once the state tore the old Utah State Office Building that closed because of — ironically — seismic concerns.
The new building will also feature some additional Capitol parking and state office space.
Once open, Glenn says he expects that people will like the final product.
"It kind of tells our unique Utah history story," he said. "The museum is really going to expand the idea of what Utah history is."
