Formerly: Hotel Utah Built: 1909-1911 Cost: $2,000,000 Designed by: Parkinson and Bergstrom Type: Multi-Purpose Facility Stories: 13 Maximum Height: 182 feet / 55 meters Location: 15 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, United States
Building Rating 90% of readers like the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
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A s Salt Lake City grew from a frontier outpost to a thriving capital, it had to cope with an influx of visitors. In 1909, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints commissioned the building of the Hotel Utah.
Inspired by French architecture, its two parallel wings and central tower form the shape of an H, providing maximum natural light to the guest rooms. The tower is in the shape of a beehive, a symbol of industriousness central to the Mormon church.
While the hotel served the city well for more than seven decades, it was closed in 1987. The structure did not meet the building codes that had developed over the years, including standards for earthquake resistance. When the church decided to renovate, rather than demolish, the structure certain challenges had to be overcome. To make the historic hotel better able to resist earthquakes, seven concrete walls are erected inside the building and tied together with steel beams.
August, 1987 - This building is added to the National Registry of Historic Places.
1990 - Renovation begins on the new building, which includes adding a tenth floor.
