R/UDAT Salt Lake City, UT

OVERVIEW
In the late 1980s, Salt Lake City’s downtown suffered from a dramatic loss of tenants, shoppers, and vitality as investors focused on areas outside of the city’s Central Business District (CBD). Concerned about the stagnant downtown, and embroiled in a debate about an important parcel known as Block 57, three civic groups independently approached the Salt Lake City AIA component with proposals to apply for the Regional and Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) program. These groups came together in an pioneering collaboration to draft the R/UDAT application with a local steering committee that represented all major downtown interest groups. Following an evaluation visit by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), which confirmed both the need and the support in Salt Lake City for a R/UDAT, the team visit took place from June 2-6, 1988 with the purpose of determining the future needs of the city’s downtown. The Salt Lake Tribune proclaimed afterwards that, “Probably the most conspicuous accomplishment of the R/UDAT is that ‘downtown’ has been defined.” (June 21, 1988)


The R/UDAT's vision of what Salt Lake City could become, June 1988

In the years since the AIA visit, over a billion dollars of private and public investment has been directed to Salt Lake City’s downtown (Baird, Joe. “What Happened to Downtown.” The Salt Lake City Tribune June 30, 2002). Guided by the R/UDAT team’s recommendations, and spurred in part by the city’s hosting of the 2002 Winter Olympics, new development in the downtown includes a mixture of uses with over 3,500 housing units, beautiful civic spaces, world-class public buildings and an extensive and successful transit network. The critical mass to sustain a lively downtown is steadily building due to a growing housing market that sustains the services that contribute to a strong core for the Salt Lake City region.

Gardens at Temple Square.
Image: David Downey

BACKGROUND
About R/UDAT
Since 1967, the American Institute of Architect’s Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) program has used a grassroots, charrette-style approach to help create livable communities. R/UDATs combine local resources with the expertise of nationally recognized professionals to assist cities in dealing with specific local issues. The team conducts an intensive four-day workshop onsite, engaging all members of the community in creating a vision for the future. To date, 138 R/UDATs have been completed in communities throughout the United States and Canada.

Back to top

PROCESS
The eight person R/UDAT team – which included experts in real estate, transportation, urban design, planning, and landscape architecture – began their visit with a comprehensive tour of the downtown. They heard testimony from community groups, local experts and civic leaders through interviews and a town hall meeting. The visit also included a news conference and a presentation to the community of the team’s final report and recommendations. Throughout the four days, local architects, engineers, planners, city officials and volunteers assisted the team. The cost for the R/UDAT added up to approximately $30,000, raised privately by the local steering committee through cash and in-kind donations. The Salt Lake City R/UDAT is exemplary because of its strong multi-disciplinary team, insightful recommendations, and dedicated community follow-through.

Analysis
The R/UDAT team recognized that Salt Lake City could draw from a variety of assets in revitalizing its city center: It is Utah’s capital city, the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church), and is situated in a growing metropolitan area. Nevertheless, downtown’s difficulties posed a great challenge to the community. After its analysis, the team determined that the CBD’s problems stemmed from, 1) a perceived (though not a real) shortage of parking which limited visitors, 2) the absence of a critical mass of residents and shoppers to support retail, 3) a lack of investment as assets were being directed to communities further south and east, and 4) an impending loss of historic buildings.


Urban Design Concept Diagram

Recommendations
To address the future needs of Salt Lake City’s CBD, the team determined that downtown needed to be defined as a unique place and anchored by public uses that could attract people and commerce.

The R/UDAT team’s most significant recommendations for downtown Salt Lake City were:
• Establish an “anchor” at the southern end of downtown to complement the existing northern anchor at Temple Square and its adjacent LDS facilities. This should be a judicial/government center with an accompanying public plaza to draw people downtown. The plaza should be designed and programmed to be a focal point for community activities.
• Re-establish the north-south axis through streetscape improvements to the Main and State Street couplet and create distinct “districts” connected by a series of public space linkages. Also, create “gateways” to mark entrances to downtown.
• Improve mobility downtown by making the streets more pedestrian friendly, enhancing public transportation within the downtown area, and devising a comprehensive parking management strategy.
• Promote new housing downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods to infuse the area with residents and visitors throughout the course of the day. Adopt neighborhood plans as a first step.
• Strengthen preservation controls to prevent a further loss of historic buildings downtown and in the surrounding residential areas.
• Build a new 20,000 seat sports arena to serve as a catalyst for further downtown development.

Implementation
The R/UDAT team noted that implementing these strategies required that the community and its major stakeholders support a single vision for their downtown and pursue it consistently over a period of time. It was vital that the City government play a leading role in guiding downtown’s incremental redevelopment. Public actions had to explicitly reinforce the recommended strategies to strengthen the downtown’s north-south axis, establish a major civic space as the southern anchor to the CBD, and promote infill development in the Main and State Street corridor. Moreover, the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency (RDA) would coordinate the downtown’s development projects. The City and the RDA also needed to establish a stronger and more formal relationship with the major downtown stakeholders such as the LDS Church, the State, the County, downtown communities and its adjacent neighborhoods.

Back to top

OUTCOMES
An early and important result of the R/UDAT was the construction of the Delta Center sports arena in 1991. The Delta Center kept the Utah Jazz basketball team in Salt Lake City and served as a catalyst for more downtown development. While its final location, just west of the Salt Palace Convention Center, was not the one favored by many in the city’s power structure, it turned out to be the most appropriate. In fact, during the site selection process, Chuck Davis, the Chairman of this R/UDAT, timed his follow-up visit so he could lobby for the right location while the debate was still raging.

Timeline of development since the 1988 R/UDAT

Another outcome with far-reaching effects was the establishment of the Downtown Alliance, also in 1991. It is funded via a Business Improvement District (BID) that collects dues from all the property owners in the CBD. The Downtown Alliance’s programs have been very successful and include a yearly First Night celebration, downtown parking maps, the installation of way-finding banners and kiosks, and the Downtown Farmer’s Market in Pioneer Park. The farmer’s market in particular has created positive community activity downtown and as a result the area surrounding Pioneer Park, once known for crime and drug activity, is on the rebound as evidenced by new development and the renovation of existing buildings.

R/UDAT rendering for Block 57

Redeveloping the once-controversial Block 57 turned out to be an exemplary instance of public initiative and engaged private stakeholders working together for a revitalized downtown. The city’s RDA converted the ten acre site into a grand civic space named Gallivan Plaza in 1993. The development included office buildings along Main Street, a four-acre public park and plaza, the restoration of the historic Brooks Arcade, a hotel, two parking garages, and a pedestrian-oriented street lined with retail and restaurants. The R/UDAT rendering for Block 57 shows that the team’s vision turned out to be influential in the resulting design and development of the site. Because the park features an amphitheater, an ice rink, a pond, a gigantic outdoor chessboard with waist-high pieces, and an aviary, Gallivan Plaza is considered the city’s outdoor living room.

As for transportation projects, the TRAX light rail system opened December of 1999 and since then its ridership has exceeded expectations. The downtown TRAX route is a “Free Fare Zone” that connects the Delta Center and the Salt Palace Convention Center along South Temple Street, then runs down Main Street past Gallivan Plaza and the Courts complex before heading east towards the University of Utah. Construction of the TRAX system included many streetscape improvements including new granite sidewalks, additional trees, information kiosks, planter beds, and directional graphics. This important transit project fulfilled the R/UDAT recommendation by emphasizing the north-south Main Street connection between Temple Square and the new Matheson Courthouse and Salt Lake City Public Library - the proposed southern anchors now located on either side of Washington Square. The TRAX light rail has been so successful that extensions to the southwestern portion of the valley and to the Salt Lake City International Airport are in the planning stages.


Library Square with The Salt Lake City and County Building, seat of city government since 1894, in the background.
Image: David Downey

The City Council also followed the R/UDAT recommendations by revising ordinances that regulated zoning and building demolition in the CBD. In response to the loss of historic buildings whose sites were later used for surface parking lots, the revised building demolition ordinance requires property owners to submit plans to the city planning commission for what will replace a building scheduled for demolition. Hallstrom reported that, “…the R/UDAT process had a lot to do with the numbers of people who appeared at the hearing, as well as with bringing the issue before the council.”

This indicates a fundamental contribution made by the R/UDAT to the downtown’s planning process: The R/UDAT visit strengthened the lines of communication between the City, the citizens and the downtown’s other stakeholders. Previously, the Salt Lake City leadership had been known for making important civic decisions behind closed doors. Now, several neighborhood plans have been developed and a citizen’s board known as the RDA Advisory Council works with the RDA Board of Directors on redevelopment issues.

The LDS Church is likely the next stakeholder to make a significant impact on Salt Lake City’s downtown. They have plans for a large mixed-use development to include a new retail shopping center, office space, and 900 units of housing on 20-acres currently occupied by two malls that the Church owns on the northern end of downtown. Controversy has surrounded this project due to a lack of public participation in the development process – proving that old habits die hard. Since the unveiling of a conceptual design in 2003, no design has been seen by the public and citizens are concerned about the effect of another enclosed shopping center on the vitality of downtown retail. Hopefully, this large-scale development project will build upon the new, more civically-oriented projects that grace downtown, like the Salt Lake City Library and its adjacent open space.

While downtown still faces challenges such as vacant storefronts along Main Street, sporadic foot traffic, and surface parking lots that break up the street wall and interrupt the pedestrian experience, Salt Lake City’s development momentum continues almost twenty years after the R/UDAT visit. Among the many projects currently planned for the city center are the new campus for Bringham Young University and the LDS Business College, a new commuter rail line, additional housing units, new sports and recreation facilities, and increased museum and cultural arts spaces.

Back to top


RESOURCES

Salt Lake City Wikipedia Entry
Salt Lake City Official Page
Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team Program

View Communities by Design Built Works: Salt Lake City UT R/UDAT (requires Google Earth)
Find Communities by Design Built Works: Salt Lake City UT R/UDAT (Google Maps)

R/UDAT Built Works:
- Austin, TX R/UDAT
- Moose Jaw, Canada R/UDAT
- San Angelo, TX R/UDAT
- Springfield, IL R/UDAT