Interviewed by Fran Pruyn.
This is the seventh in a series of architectural legends; interviews with retired architects who practiced in Utah during the second half of the twentieth century. These memories archive the personal careers of these architects, and also speak to the evolution of the architectural industry in the United States.
Salt Lake Bees ticket account executives Tanner Lund and Sam Cook look at renditions of new plans for the Ballpark neighborhood, including a new library, during a press conference in Salt Lake City on Monday. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
By Carter Williams, KSL.com | Posted - Nov. 1, 2021 at 5:50 p.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — After Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall finished unveiling a plan to revitalize the city's Ballpark neighborhood, she slowly retreated to a tent set up by a local vendor where she grabbed a drink called a "spa water."
"It has club soda, berries, lemon and lime, and it's very refreshing on this November day," she says, smiling as she stares down at her cup. This drink, which she got from a pop-up street festival set up at Smith's Ballpark, in a way symbolizes what she envisions for this neighborhood in years to come.
Mendenhall on Monday unveiled a draft of the city's "Ballpark Station Area Plan," which among other things, calls for a "festival street" — a place near Smith's Ballpark where residents and local businesses in the neighborhood can hold public markets, festivals and other events that drive interest to the south-central part of the city. The pop-up festival was just a "glimpse" of what the city has in mind, the mayor explained.
The plan also calls for a new city library branch to be built in the neighborhood and a reconfiguration of Utah Transit Authority's TRAX station at 1300 South to make it more accessible. In addition, it calls for efforts to make the area more walkable and to find new uses for Smith's Ballpark on nongame days.
Salt Lake City leaders and neighborhood advocates are hopeful that the plan will be a home run for the neighborhood that has struggled with crime and other issues in recent years. They want the game-day atmosphere from the summer to exist year-round outside of the ballpark.
"This plan lays out what is an ambitious vision for the future of the Ballpark neighborhood," Mendenhall said. "I believe this plan includes any of the key elements we need to move the Ballpark neighborhood forward and help it reach its full potential for generations to come."
Dallas Tucker, Ezarc Building Solutions laborer, works in the receiving and orientation building at the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021
By Katie McKellar | @KatieMcKellar1 | Oct 28, 2021, 8:53pm MDT | Desert News
It’s been over four years since the new Utah State Prison’s groundbreaking.
Four years since state dignitaries — after years of controversy and public outrage over where it would eventually be built — sank gold-painted shovels into the ground of a remote, mosquito-riddled area in Salt Lake City’s west side, celebrating the beginnings of a new era of how Utah would treat its incarcerated.
That groundbreaking ceremony gave way to what would become one of the largest construction projects in Utah’s history — second to its (not so nearby) neighbor, about 9 miles to its east: the over $4 billion new Salt Lake City International Airport.
It’s also been coined one of the largest detention projects in the nation. The construction of a 1.3 million-square-foot, 170-acre expanse of correctional facilities of all security types, all the way up to maximum security. All from scratch, infrastructure included.
Utah’s prison was at one point the largest and most expensive detention project in the nation, but since its groundbreaking other larger projects have been set into motion, including New York City’s plans to spend nearly $9 billion to build a new jail system to replace the Rikers Island complex.
As for the price tag of the new Utah State Prison? Cost escalation has now brought it to about $1 billion.
That’s according to Jim Russell, director of Utah’s Division of Facilities Construction and Management, who noted the final cost of the new prison could come in “just a little bit under or a little bit over” $1 billion depending on final procurement processes.
And construction? It’s almost done.
“You’ll be absolutely shocked when you go out there,” Russell told the Deseret News ahead of a tour of the construction site last week.
The men’s general population building is pictured at the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.
Despite its massive scope, most Utahns likely don’t know the new Utah State Prison is nearing completion. It’s set so far north of I-80, its sprawling footprint is barely visible to drivers.
But the closer they get, visitors quickly realize the new Utah State Prison is no longer a concept that was at the center of a painful siting process and years of debate. Nor is it just a muddy construction site. It’s reality.
It’s a prison now.
All of the buildings are practically finished. The cells are all but inmate-ready. Inside each building — from the men’s and women’s general population facilities to the mental health and medical unit to maximum security areas — crews were working on finishing touches. Paint, trim, caulk.
Outside, workers were carefully placing the final stretches of about 10 miles of razor wire at the top of the secure perimeter’s chain-link fence. Some recreation yards even already have sod. In the works are basketball courts, volleyball courts and a mini running track.
Renderings of a vision for Japantown in Salt Lake City. The one-block cultural hub would be built along downtown Salt Lake City’s 100 South between 200 West and 300 West next to the Salt Palace, in honor of what was once a thriving neighborhood for Utah’s Japanese American residents.
Plans for a new cultural district along 100 South are centered on beauty, remembrance, respect, celebration and gathering.
By TONY SEMERAD
The Salt Lake Tribune
New visions for an overshadowed block in what was once Japantown in downtown Salt Lake City are lifting many hearts, not least in Utah’s Asian American community.
Initial designs unveiled at City Hall call for a series of beautiful upgrades along 100 South between 200 West and 300 West to make into a one-block, Japanese- themed cultural district, showcasing the remaining vestiges of a once-vibrant ethnic neighborhood that spanned several blocks in each direction.
New renderings of Japantown Street, commissioned by Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency from GSBS Architects, show the stretch lined with rows of cherry blossoms and dotted with origami sculptures and other public art on a much-improved and more pedestrian- friendly streetscape.
Supporters say the overhaul would turn a drab block now dominated by loading docks and walls behind the Salt Palace Convention Center into a new city treasure, centered on beauty, remembrance, respect, celebration and gathering.
The segment also would be better buffered from the massive new West Quarter going up to the south, with widened sidewalks, its own distinct entry, themed lighting, public art and Japanese motifs, and upgraded spaces for yearly festivals.
Several people wept in gratitude as they dialed in virtually to a recent RDA meeting and watched new ideas for Japantown spool out.
“It’s been a journey,” said Jani Iwamoto, a state senator and member of the working group created to help develop the design strategy. “We’ve gone through a lot, but we are now here to celebrate, and it’s great to look forward.”
Design plan brings community healing
The refreshed street is just a vision right now, though crafted through nearly 15 months of talks — largely conducted under COVID-19 health strictures — with descendants of some of Utah’s earliest Japanese families, developers, faith leaders, government officials and hundreds of other residents.
The work is envisioned in three phases, guided by the study’s design strategies. Next steps toward making Japantown real include gauging public support for the face-lift, according to backers, and then finding up to $7.5 million — likely from public and private sources — to pay for and maintain the street.
In several ways, the proposed urban upgrades to underscore that enclave’s historic roots are akin to what is afoot on a larger scale nearby along 300 West with the emerging Greek Town project, next to the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
With the Japantown plans surfacing amid a national surge of hate-fueled attacks on Asian Americans, just the conceptual vision for restoring its presence in honor of the once-bustling enclave of businesses and homes has already had a healing effect.
Rolen Yoshinaga, representing the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple on the block, said the city-backed push to remember Japantown might even someday soothe some of the hurt felt by older Japanese Americans in Utah over the government-driven demolition of the neighborhood more than 50 years ago.
“Because of this effort, the conversation is now about where are we going to be 50 years from now,” Yoshinaga said. “It’s just completely flipped the coin into the future.”
Japantown’s early years
Japantown was a recognizable area of Salt Lake City as early as 1907, according to historical research by GSBS Architects, populated by growing numbers of first-generation immigrants — known as Issei in Japanese — who moved to Utah for jobs in mining, farming and railroads.
The neighborhood’s surviving Salt Lake Buddhist Temple and Japanese Church of Christ were dedicated in 1925. By World War II, the area bounded by State Street and 700 West between South Temple and 300 South was filled with noodle houses, hotels, variety stores, laundries, grocers, fish markets, tofu makers and other vendors catering to their needs.
Most Japanese in Utah lived there, the report noted, many of them residing in rooms behind the businesses they ran. Their children — the Nisei — “grew up with the sidewalk and the back alleys as their playground.”
The war and resulting evacuations from the West Coast also tripled Utah’s Japanese population between 1942 and 1946, accompanied by the tragic internment of thousands of Japanese in camps across the West, including Utah’s Topaz. Japantown continued to grow through the early 1960s, with its many eateries, markets and social spots solidifying it as a gathering place for several generations of Japanese in Utah and surrounding states.
“This was the one place where Japanese faces were the majority,” the GSBS Architects study said, “and everyone felt a kinship and a sense of belonging.”
Mid-1960s, construction of the Salt Palace brought the demolition of two blocks at Japantown’s core. Many of its businesses closed permanently. The project spared the two places of worship, some apartments and a few retailers on surrounding blocks, according to the GSBS study, “but the heart of the Japanese American community was gone.”
A strong sense of place outlived the razing. City Councilman Darin Mano, a fourth-generation Japanese American raised in Sandy, said he remembers going as a kid to the Obon Festival, a yearly Buddhist ritual held in Japantown for generations.
“As a young person of color growing up in a very, very Caucasian neighborhood, it was special for me. It was an opportunity to come together with other Japanese Americans and feel at home in a way,” said the 36-year-old Mano, who is also an organizer for Nihon Matsuri, another of Japantown’s cultural celebrations.
Past meets present meets future
Subsequent Salt Palace expansions eventually led community members to form the Japanese Community Preservation Committee in hopes of pushing back against ongoing negative effects for Japantown. Those efforts led to construction of a set of decorative gates and themed street lighting where portions of the Salt Palace face 100 South as well as a small buffer near its docks that has morphed into a Japanese garden.
But it was a huge residential and commercial project pursued in recent years known as The West Quarter on the city’s Block 67 — just south of what remains of Japantown — that truly transformed public debate over the neighborhood’s future.
Two Utah-based developers, The Ritchie Group and Garn Development Co., are already well into building an 11-story tower of 240 luxury apartments to be known as The Charles on that block, part of a project that will span much of the block between 100 South and 200 South from 200 West to 300 West.
The Charles is part of phase one, developers say, in what eventually will include another 11-story, 270-room hotel, other towers, ample retail and office spaces, a tree-lined street threading through the block and a large underground parking structure.
Part of a building boom downtown that is pushing the skyline of Utah’s capital upward, The West Quarter also promises to push the critical mass of downtown farther west. But the developers’ initial plans for Block 67 threatened to touch off a major clash with Japantown supporters and other advocates in the Asian community. They, along with city officials, said the scale, orientation and proposed operations of The West Quarter’s commercial buildings were likely to overwhelm and rob that segment of 100 South of its remaining identity.
“Things like garbage collection, delivery and other sorts of ‘back-of-house’ operations were all on the Japantown side of it,” noted Allison Rowland, a project analyst for Salt Lake City.
In 2018, the City Council essentially leveraged the fact that the developers were also seeking tax concessions for the project — and $15 million in public money for the underground parking garage — to prompt Japantown negotiations. Those talks spawned a nine-member group of Japanese American community leaders, Rowland and the main developer in early 2019, which then took two years to define its goals and secure the design strategy.
Valerie Nagasawa, a principal at GSBS Architects who played a key role in the firm’s analysis, said the resulting process not only deeply mined Japanese culture, the site’s rich history and memories, sentiments and visions of Utah’s Japanese community, but also drew lessons from similarly sustained neighborhoods in Denver, San Jose and San Francisco.
“This is a vision that honors the past,” Nagasawa said, “while focusing on the future.”
Recalling her involvement with other RDA board members in those sometimes- tense early talks between developers and Japantown’s advocates, Councilwoman Amy Fowler shed tears as she took in the latest designs and hopes they can come to pass.
“All the heartache we had in dealing with this is worth it to see this vision coming to life,” Fowler told colleagues. “It’s truly amazing to see the work and passion that have gone into this and to see something that can be so valuable to our community.”
Mano said in an interview he backed the city playing a role in making the plan happen. The councilman agreed, too, that the new Japantown vision has potential to forever change what until now “is primarily a sad story of a community being overrun.”
“It is very indicative of this time right now where we realize how important those spaces are,” Mano said. “It’s perfect that we were now able to celebrate it.
“Even though so many generations of previous leaders of Salt Lake haven’t really paid enough attention to it,” he said, “we’re going to do that now and pick up the pieces of what’s left and try and improve upon that.”
Every Friday at 4 p.m. for more than four decades, the employees at GSBS Architects have gathered in their Salt Lake City conference room for “wine down.”
The informal get-together — a play on the words wind down — is a way to relax at the end of the workweek.
The firm provides a small budget for food, and employees take turns hosting it. Sometimes they bring chips and salsa or cheese and sliced meats; other times it’s cookies or something they’ve cooked at home.
And — as the name suggests — people drink wine or beer, but there’s soda or other nonalcoholic beverages, too.
“We chat, laugh and get to know each other,” said Eric White, director of business development. There’s only one rule: “You can’t talk about work.”
But, these days, GSBS staffers — like many employees across the state and country— have been working remotely from their homes during the coronavirus.
Rather than let a pandemic break the tradition — one that started in 1978 — the firm took its social hour online.
Across the nation — with cabin fever setting in — these laptop get-togethers are a popular trend, providing co-workers and friends with much-needed socialization.
Zoom is the most popular online platform for these visual cocktail parties, which feature a checkerboard of faces on everyone’s computer screen. But Skype, Google Hangout and FaceTime are acceptable alternatives.
Actress Suzanne Somers has been hosting virtual cocktail parties as a way to survive social distancing. And recipes for a “quarantini” cocktail also have been making the rounds on social media.
For the GSBS staffers, one of the best parts about this virtual laptop party is seeing everyone’s personal spaces as well as family and pets, said employee Melissa Gaddis, who noted her co-workers have made the hour amusing by dressing in funny outfits and making midparty costume changes.
“Even though it is a massive group on Zoom, and one-on-ones are not feasible, we still have a good time,” she said. “This happy hour has brought a lot of joy to me and fellow GSBS’ers and has added value to the work from home lifestyle.”
The downside? Employees have to bring for their own snacks and beverages.
Kevin Miller, a principal at GSBS, said after the first week of working remotely — which included a magnitude 5.7 earthquake — “our people were wondering where the stable ground was.”
He scheduled virtual wine down, unsure if anyone would join it.
“From my own experience, working from home seems to take more energy than being in the office,” he said, “and by 4 p.m. on Friday, I was ready to shut it down, and I figured others would be, too."
For the first meeting, he logged in a little early and — to lighten the mood — put a beach scene as his background, complete with breaking surf and palm trees swaying in the breeze.
Then he waited.
“Much to my surprise,” he said, “the staff began logging on en masse.”
Soon everyone was fooling around with their backgrounds, trying to come up with a video or image that would make the group laugh, he said. One employee took the group on a short tour of his condo; kids wanted to see what the fuss was about and pets wandered through.
“It was everything that I love about GSBS,” Miller said. “We were there, united by our shared enthusiasm for our work, to support each other, to share a laugh and to figure out how to keep our community in place despite the challenges that have been thrown at us.”
(Salt Lake City, UT – 1/28/2020) Three professionals, with expertise and experience in design and marketing, have advanced at GSBS Architects, an architecture firm with offices in Utah and Texas.
In making the announcement, Kevin Miller, president of the firm, said, “this is an investment in the future of GSBS. It reflects the continuum that the founders of the firm put into place. They had a vision for a firm that would evolve, grow and sustain itself; one that would provide growth and opportunity for the people who work here, and would add value for our clients.”
JESSE ALLEN, AIA, ASLA
Jesse Allen was elected to the five-member Board of Directors. He has been with GSBS since 2007 after receiving his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Utah. He is one of the few licensed architects in Utah who is also a licensed landscape architect. Allen looks for ways to integrate landscape design and architecture on all of his projects. He is central to a GSBS design process that integrates a clear project vision from planning and design through construction administration. Notable projects of Allen’s include Regent Street, the Natural History Museum of Utah and the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building. He is currently working on the Murray City Hall and several adaptive reuse projects in Salt Lake City.
New Principals are Clio Rayner and Eric White.
CLIO RAYNER AIA, LEED® AP
Since she joined the firm in 2005, Clio Rayner has helped guide the sustainability mission for GSBS, making it an integral part of great design. Through her practice and participation, she continues to help define what sustainability means to Utah. She is an active member of the sustainability and architectural community as a licensed architect, guest lecturer and volunteer. Rayner served on the Board of USGBC Utah and AIA Utah and is currently on the Board of the Utah Center for Architecture. Her distinguished work includes the Natural History Museum of Utah, Weber State University’s Lindquist Hall and the Strategic Master Plan for Park City School District.
ERIC WHITE, Director of Marketing & Business Development
Eric joined GSBS Architects after more than 25 years as an advertising agency owner, creative director, strategist and copywriter. At GSBS, he helps direct strategy, messaging and branding efforts. He was part of the creative team which redesigned the firm’s logo and is now responsible for ensuring the firm materials project a consistent image and message for business development efforts and growth.
About GSBS
GSBS provides architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, sustainability consulting, economic consulting, planning services and experiential design through offices in Salt Lake City, Utah and Fort Worth, Texas. During the last 40 years, the firm has completed hundreds of projects of various project types including recreation, commercial, academic, government, justice, hospitality and healthcare.
Woods Cross High School Commons Area
For the last three decades, Learning By Design magazine has brought school and university leaders comprehensive compilations of the most progressive new buildings, single spaces, and innovative adaptive reuse and renovation of existing facilities. And each year, the magazine announces their awards for the most important projects.
This year, the design of Woods Cross High School took the top award in the High School category. GSBS Architects designed new science, engineering, culinary arts, and maker labs, classrooms, media center, think tanks, childcare center, student commons, cafeteria, main office, counseling center and secure entry. The exterior was remodeled to give a new face and entry plaza to the school.
GSBS Architects are currently underway on the architectural plans for a $300 million “case ready” beef and pork plant which is slated to begin operations in 2021. With a projected annual local payroll of $44 million, the facility is expected to employ 800 workers to start and could expand to 1,200 positions within three years. The new plant in Eagle Mountain, UT will be a meat-cutting and packaging operation which will take large cuts of beef and pork and convert them into steaks, chops, roasts and ground meat to be packaged, weighed and labeled on retail trays that are shipped and sold in grocery stores.
According to Principal-in-charge Scott Henriksen, ground was broken October 29th and design documents were submitted for permit in multiple phases soon after. GSBS Architects is participating in the Design/Build project with Big D Construction. Completion of the construction is targeted for the end of 2020.
Tyson Foods, one of the world’s largest food companies, was founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and has grown under three generations of family leadership. The company has a portfolio of products and brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp®, and State Fair®.
Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company had 121,000 team members as of September 29, 2018.
GSBS provides architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, energy engineering, health care and health education consulting, economic analysis, sustainability and planning services through offices in Salt Lake City, Utah and Fort Worth, Texas. During the last 40 years, the firm has completed hundreds of projects of various project types including recreation, commercial, academic, government, justice, hospitality, and health care.
![IMG_2980[4].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5395dbcbe4b032d797ffa5d1/1578673044023-FALNROL9GL3BSWRAHN7U/IMG_2980%5B4%5D.jpg)