ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


716 / C &RL News

Salt Lake City— seeing its sights

B y  B lain e H . Hall

Humanities L ibrarian  
B righam  Young University

Shopping, dancing, skiing, and Wild West boom  towns offer 
tantalizing alternatives f o r  those non-conference hours.

P art of the pleasure of attending ACRL national conferences is visiting the cities in which they are held. For many librarians, t
be their first visit to Salt Lake City, as it is for ACRL. 
So the Local Arrangements Committee has ar­
ranged several tours to help you become acquainted 
with the city and its unique 
pioneer, cultural, and recre­
ational heritage. You will be 
able to see Salt Lake by day 
and night, take a bus ride up 
Parley’s Canyon to nearby 
ParkCity(aformerwildwest 
boom mining town), or try 
your luck on a gaming tour 
to Wendover, Nevada. And 
if you want to come early or 
stay a day or two longer, you 
can e n jo y  skiing or 
snowmobiling at several 
Wasatch Mountain resorts 
only a short car or bus ride 
from downtown, or visit 
some o f the six Utah na­ Utah’s C apitol Bu
tional parks within a day’s L a k e  Valley fr o m  
drive. en d  o f  the valley. 

A great way to become building contains o
acquainted with Salt Lake a n d  striking 
and its rich pioneer and cul­
tural heritage is to sign up for the Sample Salt Lake 
CityTour. This will take you to Temple Square with 
its imposing granite temple, lovely spring gardens, 
fountains, and visitor centers; the Renaissance R e­
vival Utah Capitol Building in its commanding spot 
at the top o f State Street; the Beehive and Lion

houses, the homes where Brigham Young lived with 
his twenty some wives and many o f his 57 children; 

his mthea yRo man Gothic-style Catholic Cathedral o f the 
Madeleine with its beautiful stained glass windows 
and other elaborate works of art; the restored 
Capitol Theater, home of the Utah Opera Com­

pany, Ballet West, and 
other dance companies; 
and South Temple Street, 
where wealthy early Utah 
mining magnates built 
their ostentatious man­
sions in various architec­
tural styles popular at the 
time, many o f which have 
been converted to busi­
ness and other uses but 
still retain their late 19th- 
and early 20th-century 
styling. The tour also in­
clu d es a visit to the 
University o f Utah and 
historic F ort Douglas; 

ild VisitortsBureau Photo credit: Sal Lake Convention anding surveys the Salt Trolley Square, formerly 
its p er c h  on the north the car bams for the Salt 
The Corinthian-style Lake trolley transit sys­
rn ate reception rooms tem and now a fashion­
arble staircases. able and p ictu resqu e 

shopping center with res­
taurants, theaters, and boutiques; and the Pioneer 
Trails State Park at the mouth of Emigration Can­
yon with its recreated pioneer village and impres­
sive “This Is the Place Monument” marldng the end 
o f the 1,300 mile Mormon Trail used by the pio­
neers on their move west.

m



December 1991 / 717

For a night on the town, you can sign up for the 
Salt Lake City After Dark tour. A shuttle bus will 
pick you up at your hotel for an evening at Salt 
Lake’s best private clubs for dancing, live music, 
and fine dining. Get a few friends together or just 
join the group and enjoy Salt Lake’s surprisingly 
varied night life. Or for a change of pace join the 
tour to Wendover, Nevada, a two-hour drive across 
the salt desert, for an afternoon and evening of fun 
at the casinos and night 
spots, catching the shows 
or trying your luck at the 
blackjack, poker, or craps 
tables, or feeding the slots. 
The tour package includes 
keno tickets, food dis­
count coupons, free 
drinks, and $11.00 cash.

I f you enjoy mountain 
scenery and a touch of 
the Old West, take the 
tour to Park City. A hun­
dred years ago this was a 
wild town born in a wild 
era when tons of rich sil­
ver, lead, zinc, and gold 
ore were extracted from 
over a hundred mines in 
the Wasatch Mountains, 
a half-hour drive from 
downtown Salt Lake. Ho­
tels, saloons, breweries, 
and dance halls catered 
to the miners in a lusty 
and brawling atm o­
sphere. Today, Park City’s 
treasure is its dry powder snow. But the narrow 
winding streets, gingerbread houses, old miners’ 
shacks, saloons, and shops are still there along with 
boutiques, bars, and restaurants. Take a walk into 
yesterday and hear stories of this Old West town 
now noted for its ski resorts, arts festival, and 
international film festival, and as the birthplace of 
Mrs. Field’s Cookies.

Should your schedule not fit these planned tours 
or you want some exercise, you can put on your 
walking shoes, pick up a printed walking tour guide 
at the conference Hospitality Booth in the Salt 
Palace, and strike out on your own. Within just a few 
blocks of the convention center you can visit many 
of the sites included on the bus tour, and will also 
find museums, shopping centers, art galleries, and 
many early Utah historic buildings and other attrac­
tions. These include Temple Square, Brigham 
Young’s Beehive and Lion houses, Eagle Gate, 
Brigham Young’s grave, and the LDS Church Of­
fice Building on North Temple Street where you 
can take the free elevator to the 26th floor observa­
tion deck for a spectacular view of the city, the

mountains, and the Salt Lake Valley. A walk up 
South Temple Street will take you past the impres­
sive Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine and man­
sions of the mining magnates including the Kearns 
Mansion, now the home o f Utah’s Governors. A 
vigorous walk a few blocks up the hill north to the 
beginning of State Street brings you to the impres­
sive Utah State Capitol. While you’re there, walk 
across the street and visit the restored Salt Lake 

Council Hall, formerly 
the home of pioneer 
city and territorial 
governments and now 
home o f the Utah 
Travel Council. A walk 
a few blocks south on 
State Street takes you 
to the City and County 
Building and across the 
street is the Salt Lake 
Public Library.

For shoppers, the 
Crossroads Mall and 
the ZCMI Center on 
opposite sides of Main 
Street at South Temple 
Street (the intersection 
with the Brigham 
Young Monument in 
the center) put hun­
dreds o f stores and 
shops at your pleasure, 
including ZCMI, the 
oldest department 
store in America. Or 
you can hop on the 

UTA Trolley for a ride to Trolley Square for shop­
ping in trendy boutiques and gift shops or dining in 
one of several popular restaurants. The fare is 65 
cents and the trolley stops at most hotels and 
shopping centers and at the gold and burgundy 
T rolley signs in the downtown area. I f you get tired, 
you can take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage around 
the downtown streets.

If the official conference tours don’t meet your 
needs or if you would like more information on what 
to do or where to go in Salt Lake City or Utah, you 
can call or write either the Salt Lake Convention & 
Visitors Bureau, 180 South West Temple, Salt Lake 
City, UT 84101-1493, phone (801) 521-2822 or the 
Utah Travel Council, Council Hall/Capitol Hill, 
Salt Lake City, UT 84114, phone (801) 538-1030. 
Either one can help you tailor your own travel 
itinerary.

Watch for additional articles in future issues for 
more information about restaurants, museums, 
galleries and other cultural and recreational oppor­
tunities that will make your visit to Salt Lake City 
both enjoyable and memorable. ■  ■

“This Is the Place” Monument is located near 
the mouth o f  the canyon through which the 
Mormon pioneers fir st entered the Salt Lake 

Valley. The granite and bronze structure 
commemorates the 100th anniversary o f  the 

arrival o f  the pioneers in July 1847.

Photo 
credit: 

Salt 
Lake 

Convention 

and 

Visitors 

Bureau