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WEST VALLEY CITY — The site of what was once a drive-in theater and bustling swap meet has been largely cleared with piles of asphalt and concrete the only remaining indications of what was once there.
"They did that quick," said Cristian Carbajal Gutierrez, spokesman of sorts for the many vendors who once operated at the site.
Plans to sell the Redwood Drive-in and Swap Meet site, at 3688 S. Redwood Road in West Valley City, for redevelopment to a housing subdivision sparked controversy last summer. Many of the 500 or so vendors who operated there, including a sizable contingent of immigrants, clamored to stop the plans on the privately owned land, ultimately to no avail. Instead, the swap meet halted operations on Dec. 22 last year followed by the demolition of the large movie screens at the site about a month ago and clearing of the 26-acre expanse.
"There are many people who are sad. They still look for it," said Maritza Mojica, who works at a bakery in a shopping center near the former Redwood site.
But life moves on, and Carbajal Gutierrez said he and other advocates for the vendors have found a new swap meet site in Grantsville that could start operating later this month or in early May. Details of the plans are still being finalized, with more information possibly to come out later this week. But many of the former Redwood Swap Meet vendors are interested.
"Everybody's willing to go and give it a try," he said. Around 200 people attended a meeting on the plans last Friday, he said, attesting to the interest.
Meantime, the vendors — many of them reliant on the funds they earned for their livelihood — have been doing what they can to make ends meet. Some have tried to sell their wares at random locations only to be told to move along by police. "Everyone's trying to figure out how to make money," Carbajal Gutierrez said.
Redevelopment plans at the expanse off the northwest corner of Redwood Road and 3800 South call for some 300 housing units, including 244 townhomes, up to 40 condominiums and 16 single-family homes. Draper-based developer Edgehomes dubs the development Solari on its website, with site development to commence in the coming months.
"Edgehomes is scheduled to begin development in June 2025. We anticipate the project will span approximately three years," the company said in a statement to KSL.com. Edgehomes acquired the site from Los Angeles-based Land and Leisure Corp.
Many of the former vendors at the Redwood site had roots in Mexico, the rest of Latin America and other countries. They sold everything from clothes and fruits and vegetables to dietary supplements and tools.
The proposed Grantsville site west of West Valley City is about a 25-minute drive from the Redwood location, Carbajal Gutierrez said. But many of the vendors are willing to give it a try if their former cohorts are on board, the thinking being that if enough locate at the site, the numbers will lure shoppers. Even so, Carbajal Gutierrez said he is still scouting for other locations more centrally located in the Salt Lake City urban area.
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