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  #1  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 2:51 AM
ski_steve ski_steve is offline
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The City and County Building- Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City and County Building

I went on a tour of the C&C building with my housemates on Saturday for "Celebrate the City."

Best Pictures toward the end



The building was originally constructed by free masons between 1891 and 1894 to house offices for the city and county of Salt Lake and replace the Salt Lake City Council Hall and Salt Lake County Courthouse, both erected in the 1860s.


First Floor-




Construction of the building was riddled with controversy. During the late 1800s and early 1900s the City and County Building was the symbol of non-Mormon citizens' open defiance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



It was designed to rival the Salt Lake Temple as the city's architectural centerpiece. It is even thought that the building's clock tower and statues were designed to mimic the temple's spires and statue of the angel Moroni. Construction began in February on State Street at about 100 South.





For nebulous reasons, construction was halted that November after only the foundation had been laid. The mostly non-Mormon city council questioned the buildings plans which had been completed during the People's Party reign, and wavered on how to proceed. The LDS church, via its mouthpiece the Deseret News, complained that the Liberals were wasting taxpayer money.



Ultimately, the original plans and site for the building were scrapped and the whole project was moved to the building's current location at Washington Square. The Deseret News claimed this move served the City Council, which owned property around the site and would profit from increased land values. Nonetheless construction on new plans began by late 1891. The cornerstone was laid July 25, 1892.






The architectural firm of Monheim, Bird, and Proudfoot designed the Richardsonian Romanesque building. Henry Monheim, a local architect since the 1870s, and George W. Bird and Willis T. Proudfoot of Wichita, Kansas established the firm in 1891 specifically to design the building. Their firm won a building design contest against fourteen other submissions.





The building was monstrously over budget. Estimated by the firm at $350,000, the winning contractor bid $377,978, but by the building's dedication on December 28, 1894, it had cost nearly $900,000. Complicating matters was the Panic of 1893 which cut Salt Lake City and County revenues nearly in half. As a result of this, plans for large stained glass windows for the building were discarded.



Although now used exclusively by Salt Lake City government, the building originally served many functions. Salt Lake County offices called the structure home until the 1980s when the County elected to build a new complex at 21st South and State Street.



The building served as Utah's Capitol from when statehood was granted in 1896 until the present Utah State Capitol was completed in 1915. The Salt Lake City and County building also housed Salt Lake's first public library and contained courtrooms, including one that condemned organizer Joe Hill to death amid international attention in 1914.

Basement/ Base Isolators



From 1973 to 1989 the building was exhaustively renovated and repaired with an eye toward historical accuracy. This was done in concert with a seismic upgrade called base isolation that placed the weak sandstone structure on a foundation of steel and rubber to better protect it from earthquake damage.



The Building was the first in the world to use Base isolators.



Old foundations


This tunnel is used to bring the heating, air conditioning, water ect to the building. All utilities are located across the street at the City Library. Tunnel is also used to take prisoners back and forth.


Second Floor-













Matheson Court House, across the street








The City Library, and towards the University of Utah.






The north side features a depiction of the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition which entered Utah in 1776 and named many of the state's physical features. Gargoyles, eagles, sea monsters, beehives, Masonic icons, suns, and other symbols dot the building's rich exterior.













Mayors Office






A amazingly detailed safe.




FourthFloor-











The Salt Lake City and County Building's central clock tower is topped with a statue of Columbia and rises 256 feet (78 m) from the ground. The building's primary axis runs north-south, and large entrances mark each cardinal direction. On the south wing (over the Mayor's office) is a bronze statue of the goddess Justice.

Fifth Floor-














The Salt Lake City Mascot, The Hippogriff




Skyline Shots from the building.






Inside the Clock Tower.


Wasatch Mountains, sorry my friends head got in the way


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  #2  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 3:36 AM
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TANGELD_SLC TANGELD_SLC is offline
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VERY nice pictures, Steven!

Especially the ones taken from the rooftop! That's not a viewpoint you get to see every day
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  #3  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 3:49 AM
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Awesome!!!!

Love the rooftop views. But it's a shame that you couldn't see the new 222 South Main from that view.
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1. "Wells Fargo Building" 24-stories 422 FT 1998
2. "LDS Church Office Building" 28-stories 420 FT 1973
3. "111 South Main" 24-stories 387 FT 2016
4. "99 West" 30-stories 375 FT 2011
5. "Key Bank Tower" 27-stories 351 FT 1976
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  #4  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 4:09 AM
skyguy414 skyguy414 is offline
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Nice tour of the 'sand castle'. Thanks for sharing. In my opinion, our city hall and capitol buildings are among the greatest in the country.

Remember when someone managed to stick a pumpkin on the statue that adorns the top spire of the building a few years back?

http://archive.deseretnews.com/archi...l-on-high.html
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  #5  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 4:49 AM
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Incredible photos! I've got to get over there sometime this week while I'm out here for a training class to get some photos. City and County Building, the Courthouse, the Library, etc... etc... Also some good shots of the Temple, of course...

Aaron (Glowrock)
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  #6  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 5:02 AM
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What a classy building...nice thread!
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  #7  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 4:39 PM
East2Westback East2Westback is offline
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Terrific photographs...

You get to see the real artistry and skill of the many elements that create a marvelous piece of architecture.

Can you even imagine how much that building would cost to construct today?

So beautiful and the integration of design and definition is off the charts.

Very nice work!
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  #8  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 5:28 PM
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Great pictures. That is an amazing building. I loved the last ones taken from the top of the building. I was hoping for more of the building itself from the outside. When I was in Salt Lake City a couple years ago I was very impressed by that beautiful building, it was definitely my favorite in the city.
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  #9  
Old Posted May 4, 2009, 5:43 PM
cololi cololi is offline
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Great shots. Glad you took the tour. The views from the roof are impressive to say the least. the Utah Heritage Foundation does tours of the building on a regular basis, if anyone is interested.

This building really is a true gem for the City.
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  #10  
Old Posted May 8, 2009, 7:18 AM
ski_steve ski_steve is offline
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More photos from today of the outside























Its interesting that 222 S Main manages to stay hidden at most angles.
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  #11  
Old Posted May 8, 2009, 12:39 PM
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delts145 delts145 is online now
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Love these pics Steve. Salt Lake's City Hall is among a handfull of the most beautiful in No. America, that's for sure. I also really like that very last pic. It shows the beauty and variety of some of downtown Salt Lake's incredible buildings. I think I'll refresh the 'most beautiful city hall thread' with these pics. You've done us really proud!!

Most Beautiful City Halls in No. America

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...45#post4238745

Last edited by delts145; May 8, 2009 at 1:47 PM.
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