Two Utahs: Religious and Secular Landscapes in the Great Basin West

May 31 - June 3, 2017
Salt Lake City, UT




Morning Tour A: Exchange Place and the Gentile City

Tour leader: Kirk Huffaker, Preservation Utah.

From early in downtown’s development, Salt Lake City was composed of two distinctive cultural areas. The area on the north, centered on Temple Square, that was owned by the LDS Church, and the Gentile (Non-Mormon) area to the south, along 300 and 400 South Streets, which is the focus of this morning’s tour.


Morning Tour B: The City Moves East

Tour leader: Roger Roper and Cory Jensen, Utah State Historical Society.

After 1890, the core residential area of Salt Lake City shifted from the downtown area east along South Temple Street (Brigham Street) and then into the new Avenues subdivision. This tour looks at the architectural implications of the reconfiguration.


Afternoon Tour A: Temple Square

Tour leader: Emily Utt, Historic Sites Curator, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

During the afternoon, the LDS Church will open a number of buildings in and around Temple Square, including the Brigham Young’s Beehive and Lion Houses, the Joseph Smith Center (formerly the Hotel Utah—the site of the 1987 VAF conference), Assembly Hall (18xxdate?), the Tabernacle (1865-66??), and the Conference Center (2000, as well as exhibits on the ongoing renovation of the Salt Lake Temple (1893).


Afternoon Tour B: Light Rail and Re-urbanization

Tour leader: Susan Petheram, University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning.

Tour members will ride the TRAX light rail system to the 900 South and Sugar House districts to experience the city’s efforts to revitalize these neighborhoods through tax increment financing, upzoning for higher density, accessible transit options.


For questions contact Alison Flanders at saltlakecity@vafweb.org

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