Crystal Palace Market Ghost Sign

The Crystal Palace Market ghost sign appeared briefly at 240 S 1300 E SLC.  I took this photo last night (4/15/2025) and by tonight (4/16/2025) it was covered with plywood.

The Crystal Palace Market ghost sign at 240 South 1300 East Salt Lake City

The building was constructed in 1935 and opened as Sewells United Stores, a grocery chain originating in Nevada and operating in the intermountain west.

The Crystal Palace markets were a competing chain in SLC.

In 1937 Sewells acquired 3 Crystal Palace markets and, along with their 2 other SLC Sewell stores (including this one), merged them under the name Sewells Crystal Palace.

In May 1938, Sewells sold their 5 SLC stores to John Gerendas, a Greek immigrant who had co-established the Success Markets in Helper, Utah.

Gerendas changed the names of all 5 markets to Crystal Palace, with locations at:

• No. 1: 525 E 1700 South
• No. 2: 304 E 100 South
• No. 3: 216 E South Temple
• No. 4: 914 E 900 South
• No. 5: 240 S 1300 East

This location near the University of Utah at 240 S 1300 East was Crystal Palace Market No 5.

Gerendas expanded and eventually owned 9 Crystal Palace markets.

Gerendas became ill and died in 1942. Before his death, he sold most of his stores to his employees. His son, Greg, continued operations of some of the Crystal Palace markets.

Gerendas helped employees Bill Ward and Harold Robinson purchase this location. They put a Robinson & Ward sign in the window but kept the big Crystal Palace sign on the building.

The market served the University of Utah area until 1988. It was the longest serving and last Crystal Palace market to close.

The building was converted into a restaurant space and opened as Pancho Villa U in 1989. It changed hands several times in the 1990s including Hot Rod Hundley’s Sports Family Restaurant, China Star, and Einstein Bros Bagels. It was most recently Coffee & Tonic.

SLC building permit plans indicate the new space will be a restaurant (named Henry Baker?). The renovation project includes an interior remodel, restoration of existing brick, facade renovation, window replacement, addition of a front canopy, small rear addition with steel stairs, and changes to entry walls and landscaping.

This or That - Preservation or Demolition

Very different attitudes toward community and history between these two owners of prominent historic buildings of Salt Lake City.

Micah Christensen, the new owner of the B'nai Israel Temple building at 249 S 400 E, talks about his sense of stewardship to the community which prompted him to purchase the building and preserve it, making it the home to the new Salt Lake Art Museum (@saltlakeartmuseum). Check out some recent media coverage: Salt Lake Tribune, Fox13

Vs.

Owners Robot Butcher Shop LLC (associated with Petersen family, owners of Overland West, Inc of Ogden) are pursuing demolition of the Phillips Congregational Church, 479 S 700 E. Their real estate agent, Chad Aris of AIM Real Estate Group, told Building Salt Lake they are prioritizing profit.

Of course, it is the owner's prerogative to do what they like with their property.

It's nice that we have community members like Micah Christensen. Thank you!

Preservation Story of the Karrick Block

The distinctive Karrick Block and adjacent Lollin Building (236-238 S Main) were preserved in 2002 as part of an agreement with Salt Lake City and the owners, Hamilton Partners, as part of the process to build the 222 Main Tower (222 S. Main).

In 2001, Hamilton Partners (HP) demolished the historic buildings that were located between the Continental Bank (now Hotel Monaco) and the Karrick Block. These buildings housed Wendy’s Restaurant, Walk-Over Shoes, Lord’s Big and Tall, Dahle’s, English Tailors, the Catholic Center, and others).  

The original intent was to construct the 222 Tower in their place, but office space was in low demand at the time due to the newly constructed American Stores Tower, now knows as the Wells Fargo Building, HP erected temporary one-story buildings made of wood that were used during the 2002 Olympics by organizations and vendors (SLC pushed for some kind of use of the empty area, HP originally wanted a surface parking lot). In 2004, these temporary buildings were then demolished and the 222 Tower built in their place.

The Karrick and Lollin buildings were preserved because they are local historic landmark sites, which provides them with some level of protection by Salt Lake City regarding their modification/demolition, which is overseen by the SLC Historic Landmark Commission.

The Karrick Block was built in 1887 for Lewis Karrick and was designed by famed architect Richard K.A. Kletting, who also designed the adjacent Lollin Building in 1894. The Karrick building is Kletting’s earliest example of work that is still standing.

The Karrick Block had been occupied by Leyson-Pearsall Jewelry since 1905. Originally, the upper floors were used as a gambling hall, offices, and had 8 rooms for sex workers but were later used as storage for Leyson-Pearsall. In 1976, the names of some of those sex workers remained on the doors of the Karrick Block (I could not find reference to what names). The upper floors were condemned in 1976.

In 1980, the interior of the Karick Block still had some of the original décor including ornate crystal chandeliers hanging from the hand painted gold leaf ceilings, wrought iron balcony railings, and some areas with original ceramic tilted floors.

The main occupants of the Lolling Building were the Hudson Bay Fur Company until 1962 and then the G.E.M Music Store. The second floor were business offices, primarily dentists. And the third floor was the residence of the Lollin family until 1960.

In 2000, HP hired MHTN Architects to renovate the Lollin and Karrick Buildings. The buildings underwent a full exterior restoration, including masonry, stone, bricks, lintels, decorative aspects of the façade, structural upgrades, new elevator structure, and steel interior structural bracing. The additions on the back were also demolished. Total cost of the renovation of the two buildings was $5.3M, of which $2.276M was eligible for reimbursement by the SLC Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Building Renovation Loan Program.

The interior of the Lollin and Karick Block were nearly completely gutted and adapted for modern residential living, which prompted disagreement about how the interior rehab of the buildings were done. Some features were saved, including a tin ceiling in the Karrick Block. 

In 2000, the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) wrote that the upper levels of the Lollin were “remarkably intact” prior to the renovation. After the renovation the interior spatial configuration was significantly altered and many of the original wood features were removed, including an oak staircase, wainscot, and trim. Some of these features were replaced with similar looking materials.  Additionally, new windows were introduced on the north side of the Karrick Block.

Currently, the bottom floor of the Lollin and Karrick Block are occupied by commercial/retail operations and the upper stories are residential. It is still under the ownership of HP.

The Hancock Mansion is said to be haunted by Hollister Hancock

The Hancock Mansion at 444 S 700 East in SLC is said to be haunted by the ghost of Ms. Hollister Hancock. 

The Hancock Mansion at 444 South 700 East, Salt Lake City. January 2023.

Built in 1890 for SLC businessman Thomas F. Mulloy, the house is often referred to as the Mulloy House by historians but it was the Hancock family that occupied the house for decades and the owners of the building call it the Hancock Mansion.

The mansion was purchased in 1901 by Col. William M. Ferry Jr, who owned several silver mines in the Park City area; he gifted the house to his daughters, Kate Hancock and Mary Allen. 

Kate Hancock lived in the house with her husband George, daughter Mary “Hollister” and son John. Two of Kate’s other children had died in the two years prior, the loss of which was devastating to the family. The gift of a new home was likely an attempt to cope and adjust to their new reality.

Side note: Mary Ferry Allen’s son, W. Montague Allen designed the Daughters of the ill-fated American Revolution fountain gifted to Salt Lake City that is now a decoration at Liberty Park.

 Second side note: Col William Ferry is also known for gifting 22 acres of land for Westminster College. A stipulation of his gift and the construction of Ferry Hall, the women’s dormitory, that the management of the women’s building be handled by a board of women. The original board included Col William Ferry’s wife, Jeanette, and their daughter (Hollister’s mother) Kate Hancock.  Hollister Hancock also served on the board for 57 years.  Ferry Hall was demolished in 1987.

In the early 1900s, the Hancock family often hosted parties and weddings at their home, which was often decorated with roses and ferns. Hollister was a socialite who attended prestigious finishing schools in the East; and, in 1903 she attended a reception at the White House hosted by the First Lady, Edith Roosevelt. 

Hollister Hancock inherited the house after her mother’s death in 1940. Hollister lived in the house for 75 years, until her death in 1976. She was an active club woman and was devoted to her service with the Women’s Board of Westminster College.

Hollister was said to have a prickly personality; my guess is that due to her extensive society and etiquette training, her disapproval of changing cultural norms were likely expressed quite often.

Ms. Hollister "Holl" Hancock in 1956 having tea with the Westminster Mothers. 
Image from USHS.

The Hancock Mansion, ca 1970s. From USHS.

In 1977, the house was leased and restored by Pam March, who established her floral business, Every Blooming Thing.  Pam reported that items were rearranged overnight, doors were locked from the inside, and once an individual fell through the ceiling from the attic during repairs and landed in the bathroom below (he was not injured) and a card fell with him that read “Merry Christmas from Hollister Hancock.”  

Pam reported seeing the ghost of Hollister during Christmas season who told her that “Hollister Hancock is pleased with what you have done with the house and her spirit is with you.”  Perhaps a reference to flowers once again filling the old mansion (?). Pam called “Holl” her guardian angel.

Ghost hunters and psychics have investigated the house. Little children can be heard talking and laughing upstairs.  A tall, thin man who is somehow connected the Civil War also stands in front of an upstairs bedroom, likely a reference to Col William Ferry who was an officer in the 14th Michigan Infantry of the Civil War.

The Hancock Mansion at 444 S 700 East is located in the Central City Historic District and is the last of the historic buildings on the block. 

The adjacent buildings such as Fendall’s Ice Cream/Big Daddy Pizza, the old Modern Display and McArthur buildings were demolished in 2023, leaving the historic Hancock Mansion a stalwart outlier to the surrounding demolition and development.

The Hancock Mansion after some adjacent structures were demolished, Aug 2024.

Sources:

• Salt Lake Community College Student Newspapers 1993-10-27 Page 6
• The Salt Lake Tribune May 3 1970 p87
• The Daily Utah Chronicle 1903-01-27 p7
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1901-12-21 p3
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1977-04-04 p15
• Deseret News 2010-03-17
• Specters in Doorways by Linda Dunning 2003

Midwest Casket Company Building at 440 W 600 South SLC

Midwest Casket Co Building, September 2024.
Note the recently demolished buildings to the east (right). 

Midwest Casket Co Building, September 2024.

The old Midwest Casket Company building at 440 W 600 South is one that you have likely passed by on numerous occasions. It is representative of the transition to modern funeral services, especially among the middle class.

The building was constructed in 1912 (although the Salt Lake County Assessor states 1905) for the Utah Casket Company for the manufacture of caskets, undertaker’s supplies, and a dressmaking department for burial dresses, shrouds, and robes.

The early 1900s was a busy time for the casket industry in SLC. Prior to about 1880, SLC had one primary undertaker – Joseph Edward Taylor (often referred to as the Pioneer Undertaker) and his family. He was appointed by Brigham Young to be the SLC Cemetery Sextant, undertaker, and provide coffins (through his father-in-law, William Capener, who was a cabinet maker).

Slowly, things changed around 1880. In James Farrell’s book “Inventing the American Way of Death 1830-1920” (so interesting!), he indicates the growth of the middle class demanded attention to the deceased “more in accordance with their surroundings,” meaning something more elaborate than a simple box lined with linen. At this same time in SLC, a greater influx of non-Mormons demanded a greater variety of services, commodities, and cemeteries.

Utah Casket Company advertisement showing an elaborate casket, 1913.
Clip from Salt Lake Herald 1913-04-04 Page14

 
At the end of the 1800s, there were a variety of funerary start-up businesses. Most only lasted a few years but several have endured to the modern time (some names you may recognize Evans, O’Donnell, or Larkin). Often, when one of these businesses ended, another would purchase their real estate and equipment, often at auction.

This is what happened with the original occupant of this building; in 1910 a newly incorporated Utah Casket Company acquired the equipment of the Crescent Manufacturing Company. 

Crescent manufactured caskets and its establishment in SLC was a bit of weird situation. Through my reading of the old newspapers articles, it seems that Mr. Edward H. Sherman re-established Crescent Manufacturing Company in SLC in 1908 from Butte, Montana and it seems he did so in order to escape a significant judgement against the company in Butte. In 1910 Sherman sold the equipment and supplies of Crescent in exchange for stock in the Utah Casket Company. At the time, Utah Casket Company was located at 32-36 E 800 South.

A year later, in December 1911, The Utah Casket Company announced it would build a new modern facility to manufacture caskets, undertaker’s supplies, and couches at 440 W 600 South. The two-story building is constructed of brick and cement and was constructed so that a third story could be added if needed. The building was “modern in every detail…with rest and lunchrooms for the employees, which will include a large number of women” who worked in the sewing department creating burial clothing, shrouds, and linings for the caskets. The building formally opened in October 1912.

Utah Casket Factory announcement illustration, January 1912.
Clip from the The Salt Lake Tribune 1912-01-28 Page 11

Utah Casket Company building completion, December 1912
Clip from the Deseret News 1912-12-21 Page 97

 
Two workplace accidents at 440 W 600 South were reported in the newspapers in January 1919. Sixteen year old Rulon Hanson lost his little finger of his left hand while working with the buzz saw and another employee lost four fingers of his right hand while using the same saw.

The Utah Casket Company occupied the building for about 8 years. They exhibited their caskets at the Utah State Fair and won a blue ribbon, which they proudly advertised. Around 1920, Utah Casket Company was defunct.

Around the same time period, there were competing casket business. The Salt Lake Casket Company was incorporated in 1910; this company was associated with Joseph E. Taylor (“Pioneer Undertaker”) and his son Alma O. Taylor and was the successor and outgrowth of Joseph E. Taylor’s operation. 

In 1919, Alma O. Taylor split from Salt Lake Casket Company (run by his brothers Samuel and Joseph Taylor) to form the Intermountain Casket company with Lafayette Holbrook. In 1920 the Intermountain Casket Company opened a new three-story building at 276 W 100 South and is still standing in SLC’s Japantown.

In 1920, it was the Salt Lake Casket Company that acquired the building at 440 W 600 South including the real estate, building, and equipment of the defunct Utah Casket Company. They occupied the building for several years. In 1937 the company was bankrupt and the building, real estate, machinery, fixtures, and equipment were sold at public auction.

Around 1938 the Midwest Casket Company moved into the building. Midwest Casket was associated with brothers Curt and Henry Skola. Midwest Casket occupied the building for decades. It became known for its custom caskets and interiors, including caskets for pets. They provided custom options in an ever-growing market of mass production with limited choices.

A 1991 article from the Salt Lake Tribune interviewed three women who worked as seamstresses at Midwest Casket. They worked in a sunny room on the top floor that was filled with bolts of fabric and antique sewing machines. (The casket production area was on the main floor.)

As an example of how the workplace environment has changed since 1991, there were posters of Chippendale dancers in thong bathing suites covering holes in the walls on one side of the room. In 1968 they provided 35 caskets for an airplane crash at the SLC Airport. They provided caskets for LDS church presidents, local politicians and in 1985 they sent a champagne velvet lined casket for actor Rock Hudson as one of the options for his burial. They are still in business and have relocated to South Salt Lake.

Recently the building and surrounding parcels are undergoing redevelopment as part of the Silos Block project in the Granary District. Many buildings on the block have been or will be demolished, the most notable being the Cereal Foods Silos.

The Midwest Casket building is to be preserved and adaptively reused as a commercial space. The adjacent building to the west (Euro Treasures) will also be preserved and adaptively reused (plans indicate a garage for 117 parking stalls). Rimini Coffee at 532 S 400 West will also remain.

Also of note, the old Portland Cement art-dec style building (554 S 400 West) will be demolished.


Sources

• Sanborn Maps for Salt Lake City, 1898,1911,1926,1950,1969
• Salt Lake Herald Sat, Sep 03, 1910 ·Page 15
• Salt Lake Telegram Thu, Dec 08, 1910 ·Page 10
• Salt Lake Herald Wed, Dec 13, 1911 ·Page 4
• The Salt Lake Tribune Sun, Jan 28, 1912 ·Page 11
• The Salt Lake Tribune Mon, Jul 08, 1912 ·Page 10
• Salt Lake Herald Fri, Oct 04, 1912 ·Page 12
• Deseret News Sat, Dec 21, 1912 ·Page 97
• Deseret News Sat, Apr 05, 1913 ·Page 38
• Salt Lake Herald Fri, Apr 04, 1913 ·Page 14
• Salt Lake Herald Tue, Nov 16, 1915 ·Page 8
• Salt Lake Telegram Fri, Jan 31, 1919 ·Page 13
• Salt Lake Tribune Oct 7 1919 Page 20
• Deseret News 1930-10-26 Page 32
• The Salt Lake Tribune Thu, Dec 31, 1936 ·Page 20
• Salt Lake Telegram Jan 6 1939 Page 16
• Deseret News 1939/05/17 Page 11
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1955-06-24 Page 54
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1980-07-17 Page 103
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1988-03-27 Page 41
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1991-03-11 Page 12
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1943-03-05
• Biennial Report by Utah Secretary of State 1913
• Kate B. Carter, Heart Throbs of the West, 1945, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. 
• James J. Farrell, Inventing the American Way of Death, 1830-1920. 1980. 
• USHS Files for Midwestern Casket Co Building
• USHS Files for Intermountain Casket Co Building
• Salt Lake City, Silo Phase 2 Staff Report - Final, 2023

Mountainville Academy's Failure to Incorporate STEM Principals into Actual Practice: The Demolition of the Historic Carlisle House

Architectural salvage of the brick from the Fanny and Thomas Carlisle House, May 17 2024. Mountainville Academy will demolish the house for a parking lot and STEM building.

Demolition of the Carlisle House in Alpine has begun. Mountainville Academy (@mountainvilleacademy) refused the offer by Alpine City and the Friends of the Alpine City Library to purchase the property and turn it into a children’s library. As such, Mountainville has decided to demolish the house rather than let someone else buy it to be preserved or to utilize it themselves.

I visited the Thomas and Fanny Carlisle House on Friday, May 17 2024 and took these photographs. The workers in the images were hired by Alpine City (not Mountainville Academy) to conduct architectural salvage; their focus is on recovering the ca1910 brick, which I was told will be repurposed for the Alpine Library.

FOX13's Shanti Lerner reported that Mountainville plans to use the space for a parking lot and a STEM building… both purposes I find enraging. The parking lot is clearly a shortsighted decision and something that could have been designed to easily avoid the Carlisle House.

The lack of integrating the Carlisle House into a STEM building (an addition could have been added) is yet another shortsighted decision and illustrates Mountainville’s lack of creativity and willingness to incorporate the principles of STEM/STEAM into actual practice.

The entire drive back from Alpine all I could do was think of various science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics classroom exercises that utilized or focused on the Carlisle House. Incorporating historic preservation into STEM/STEAM would have been a true example of “Excellence.”

I helped build Utah’s first standalone STEM program of K-6 grades, at M. Lynn Bennion Elementary (soon to close) a Title 1 School that serves downtown SLC families. We did amazing things with very little funding.

It is so insulting to see a fairly privileged school like Mountainville Academy squander a unique opportunity. One quick example of a potential STEM exercise: make adobe bricks (sun-dried mud) with various compositions and then test their engineering strength.

This potential STEM lesson was on my mind because the adobe brick is now exposed while the exterior fired brick is being salvaged.

Hale Market Ghost Sign

The Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City, has been revealed during recent renovations. The old market is soon to become a new location of Piko Mexican Grill (of Victor’s Tires fame!)

Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Market, as it was most commonly known, was established about 1925 by Parley W. and Olive Hale. They purchased and lived in the now adjoining home and converted the garage into a market.

In the first few decades, Hale Market was primarily known as a butcher shop, but it also sold dry goods, groceries, and notions (sewing accessories).

Parley Hale primarily worked at the store, and when his son Don C. Hale was old enough, he worked at the market too. The ca. 1940 photo shows both Parley and Don Hale in front of the market.

Hale’s Market with Parley and Don Hale, ca. 1940. From FamilySearch.

The son, Don C. Hale, wanted to go into business of his own and was intrigued by car hops. But having been denied the Big Boy franchise (it was purchased by someone else), Don decided to build his own burger shop and in 1959 opened Hires Drive-In at 425 S 700 East. Don was able to procure his fresh meat, bread, and produce through Hale Market. (Of note, it is called Hires because Hires Root Beer provided a sign if they agreed to sell Hires root beer.)

Glen Boldt took over ownership of the market in 1981. He started working at the market in 1954 as a bagger at the age of 14. He kept the old wood shelves and the pea-green wooden counter to keep that old neighborhood market feel that he loved.

As a local shop, Glen Boldt knew just about everyone in the neighborhood and extended credit to long-time customers.

 Hale Market about 2011, from Google Street View.

Even when the Smiths Marketplace (previously known as Fred Meyers) was built in 1995, Hale Market persevered.

Hale Market closed around 2016 and has been vacant since.

The building is located in the local Central City Historic District and any significant changes are subject to approval by the SLC Historic Landmark Commission.

Hale Market at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Market at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

The house adjoining Hale Market at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

The old Veterans Hospital at 12th Ave and E St is now the Meridien Condos

Old Veterans Hospital in 2022, as Condos

Veterans Hospital ca 1930s. Image from UDSH

This is the old Veterans Hospital at 401 E 12th Avenue (roughly 12th Ave and E Street) in Salt Lake City is now the Meridien Condos at Capitol Park.

Built-in 1932 in a neoclassical style, this 5 ½ story brick building was originally set back from the street on a steep hill and surrounded by park grounds. A smaller 3-story annex was added in 1939.

The newly created Veterans Administration (VA) recognized a need for a hospital in SLC to care for WWI and Spanish-American War veterans Architectural plans were drawn up in 1930 and site selection began.

Originally it was thought that the VA hospital should be located close to Fort Douglas but the VA decided on a residential area high on the North Bench (the Avenues) which provided cooling canyon breezes and was situated above the city smog.

Postcard showing the Salt Lake City Veterans Hospital

Postcard showing the Salt Lake City Veterans Hospital

More than 3 city blocks were purchased and construction was completed in June 1932.  The first patient, WWI vet Oliver J. Hunter, was admitted on July 1, 1932. Once fully opened, the hospital provided beds for 104 patients.

Built during the Great Depression, the hospital was seen as a method to provide good jobs to hard-hit Utahns, both during and after construction. Later the Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided labor tending to the grounds surrounding the hospital.

The hospital boasted state-of-the-art facilities including dentist care, an x-ray department, surgery, dining rooms, and a dietary kitchen. During WWII, the focus of the Veterans Hospital became vocational rehabilitation and physical therapy.

Veterans Hospital group, Christmas Day 1942. Image from UDSH.

Returning Soldiers from WWII greatly outpaced the SLC Veterans Hospital and the US Army opened the much larger Bushnell Hospital in Brigham City in 1942. And in 1946 SLC was approved for a new VA facility with construction work starting in 1950 on part of the Fort Douglas Military reservation; this new VA Hospital was opened in 1952 and is the current main campus of the SLC VA hospital system at 500 Foothill Blvd.

In 1962 the old Veterans Hospital in the Avenues neighborhood was closed to patients and was soon declared surplus. In December 1964 the property was purchased by the LDS Church and used the old hospital as an annex to its Primary Children’s Hospital. The LDS Church sold it in 1987 to IHC Hospitals Inc and when the new Primary Children Hospital was built in 1990.

Most of the land (28 acres) surrounding the old Veterans Hospital was subdivided and sold to developers. The hospital and a few surrounding acres were retained and the building was used intermittently but was primarily vacant for 16 years.

Veterans Hospital as it looked in 1996, Image from NRHP file, National Archives.

Veterans Hospital as it looked in 1996, Image from NRHP file, National Archives.

Veterans Hospital as it looked in 1996, Image from NRHP file, National Archives.

Veterans Hospital as it looked in 1996, Image from NRHP file, National Archives.

Veterans Hospital as it looked in 1996, Image from NRHP file, National Archives.

Veterans Hospital as it looked in 1996, Image from NRHP file, National Archives.

In 2004 it was purchased by Pembroke Capitol Park and converted to luxury condominiums through historic adaptive reuse, done by Hogan Construction at a cost of $20M. The interior was gutted, an underground parking structure was added, and the exterior was preserved. The condo conversion was completed in 2008.

Images of the renovation, from Hogan Construction.

Images of the renovation, from Hogan Construction.

Images of the renovation, from Hogan Construction.

Images of the renovation, from Hogan Construction.

In 1988 the building was shown in the movie Halloween 4 as Smiths Grove Sanitarium.

Of Note:
It is likely that the Veterans Hospital on 12^th Avenue was segregated. The Tuskegee Hospital for Sick and Injured Colored World War Veterans in Tuskegee Alabama opened in 1923 and was the only Black Veterans hospital until 1954.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Veterans Administration allowed hospitals to choose their segregation status based on local and regional practices, which for Salt Lake City would mean Black Soldiers would be in a separate ward or not allowed at all. My guess is the latter.

President Truman desegregated the US military through Executive Order 9981 but the VA kept most hospitals segregated in some form through 1953. On July 28, 1954, the VA formally announced that segregation had been eliminated at all VA hospitals.

So far, I’ve only seen white men as patients in the 1940 Census. Write a comment if you know of any specifics on the SLC Veterans Hospital policy on segregation.

Source: History of the VA in 100 Objects: number 11.   https://www.va.gov/HISTORY/100_Objects/Index.asp

Sources:

• Salt Lake Telegram Nov 6 1931
• Salt Lake Tribune July 2 1932
• Salt Lake Tribune July 8 1932
• Salt Lake Telegram July 14 1932
• Deseret News Sept 14 1932
• Salt Lake Telegram Sept 9 1933
• Salt Lake Tribune July 6 1947
• Deseret News Oct 7 2005
• Salt Lake Tribune Aug 10 2006
• Veterans Hospital NRHP File, NPS
• History of the VA in 100 Objects: number 11