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SALT LAKE CITY — A partnership agreement between Salt Lake City and Smith Entertainment Group — passed in July — officially reached the state committee tasked with reviewing the document on Friday.
However, there's a new effort to protect one property not mentioned much in the massive document. A group led by Utah Symphony musicians put together a draft document outlining why Abravanel Hall, which opened in 1979, should be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
It's scheduled to present its findings to the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission on Thursday, which will decide if there's a "reasonable case" about the building's historic significance to forward a recommendation to the National Register Review Committee. That committee will meet later this month before the federal government could weigh in by the end of this year.
If approved, it may change the narrative of the building, but it doesn't offer complete protection for the building.
The case for Abravanel Hall
Worry over the future of Abravanel Hall began almost immediately after the initial details of Smith Entertainment Group's partnership agreement request came to light in May. The plan included remodeling the Delta Center to take in the Arizona Coyotes NHL team that the company acquired and relocated to Utah in April, and it asked for two blocks east of the arena for an entertainment district.
Utah Symphony musicians and fans quickly rallied over the building. Over 50,000 people signed an online petition calling on the city, county and company to spare the building, and many showed up to public meetings to plead their case. Smith ultimately opted to let Salt Lake County decide on the building's fate around the same time.
Meanwhile, another effort emerged behind the scenes. Symphony musicians formed an ad hoc committee to navigate through any possible impacts on their home of 45 years, which ultimately led to a desire to get the building listed on the national register.
The National Register of Historic Places — a program overseen by the National Park Service — recognizes buildings and other types of properties that have historical significance. Buildings, districts and other properties typically must be at least 50 years old with some historical significance to be eligible, but there can be some exceptions for buildings not quite 50 years old.
Abravanel Hall could qualify before 50 because of its architectural and engineering significance, said Adrienne White, a consultant the committee hired to oversee the effort. White is the founder of the historic home research service House Genealogy and a member of the Historic Landmark Commission. She agreed to oversee a draft application after double-checking with the Utah State Historic Preservation Office that the building could be eligible for the list.
"Under architecture, the focus is it being the work of a master," she told KSL.com.
That master was Cyril Harris, a legendary figure in the field of acoustics architecture. Harris wrote or co-wrote many of the influential books in the field. On top of teaching, he also designed or consulted on over 100 concert halls in his lifetime, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Lincoln Center Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
When the Utah Symphony's board and Utah Bicentennial Commission began planning what was first known as the Symphony Hall in the 1970s, conductor Maurice Abravanel — now the namesake of the building — recommended Harris be involved in some way. The Utah Bicentennial Commission agreed, hiring Harris as a consultant before bringing on FFKR Architects to design it.
"They recognized the importance that the acoustics had on the design of a building that was going to be made specifically for the Utah Symphony," White said, adding that Harris only agreed after the state assured him the building wouldn't be split up for other uses.
Harris meticulously designed a hall where acoustic sound took center stage. The building's seating design, flooring and even ceiling thickness were all chosen with sound in mind. In 1979, the same year it opened, the Acoustical Society of America awarded Harris the Wallace Clement Sabine Medal, arguably the highest honor in architectural acoustics.
Acoustics ultimately became the legacy of Abravanel Hall, the only hall in Utah tied to Harris. Richard Eyre, who served as director of the Bicentennial Arts Center Committee at the time and a key player in getting the venue built, said acoustics are a feature that makes Abravanel Hall unique.
"This is not a building that could ever be replaced," he told KSL-TV in May. "If we were to raze it or try to rebuild a different facility, it would be a generational blunder, and people would regret it for decades."
White quickly got to work piecing together a detailed 72-page draft that leans heavily on Harris' influence on the design as well as other notable aspects of the project as she raced to beat a July 19 deadline for Utah to expedite the process.
Thursday's meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission — planned for 5:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the Salt Lake City and County Building — is one step in the process of finalizing its historic designation. White said she plans to recuse herself from the vote, and her view doesn't reflect the commission, but the board will decide if it should be considered for the register.
The state's National Register Review Committee will then meet on Sept. 19, when it could decide to forward the nomination to the National Park Service. The agency could decide on whether to add Abravanel Hall to the register by the end of this year.
What a listing would do
To be clear, while the federal government essentially agrees every property on the national register is worthy of preservation, it doesn't guarantee that will happen. The program opens up tax credits and other benefits that encourage property owners to rehabilitate a historic building instead of tearing it down.
It's up to local officials to implement protections that make it harder to knock over a historic building. That means a listing won't stop Abravanel Hall from being torn down or drastically altered, but it could offset some of the cost to preserve and renovate the building — which is estimated by Salt Lake County to cost about $200 million.
Salt Lake County — the building's owner — couldn't cash in on that by itself since it isn't a tax-liable entity, but it could partner with a company or organization that could receive those benefits if the county wanted to go that route.
In a statement to KSL.com, a Salt Lake County spokesperson said the county is aware of the register effort and will let it play out. It is still evaluating what's next for Abravanel Hall.
"We continue to investigate options that balance preservation, modernization and activation of the space," the statement read, in part.
However, those behind the effort say they believe the register could change the building's narrative. They believe a listing turns Abravanel Hall from being seen as any old concert hall to being seen as a historic building with cultural importance for the reasons outlined in the draft report.
That, in turn, may help Utahns appreciate the building for how it was designed.
White fights through emotions as she reflects on all that she learned in telling Abravanel Hall's story during a pivotal moment in its existence. For her, the research humanized the importance that it has had on a community.
"I know a lot of people care about this building," she said. "I felt a deep sense of responsibility to find the story and tell it for the sake of preserving history, whether the building is saved or not."
