Salt Palace redesign includes taller build, new ballroom

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County officials are entering the second phase of designing and planning for a revamped Calvin R. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center as part of the new downtown sports and entertainment district.

County Associate Deputy Mayor Arlyn Bradshaw said while they are still deciding on a few options, all plans include adding more height. He said the building will get as much as one to two stories taller.

“We don’t want a facility that is so imposing that it overshadows the area,” he said.

“The creation of the Sports, Entertainment, Culture and Convention District (SECC) is a generational opportunity to reinvent a vital section of our state’s capital city,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. “With strong support from our community partners and world-class project team, we are confident this investment will result in a fundamentally reimagined section of downtown serving local residents, area businesses, as well as visitors to downtown Salt Lake.”

Bradshaw said that while they are going to build up, they still want to preserve the square footage as well as build a second ballroom, something the county said has been highly requested, and something competing centers already have.

“By having two ballrooms, we get to use more of the convention center more often, which brings more people to the convention center and really helps our businesses downtown,” Bradshaw said.

The county estimates that it will help the Salt Palace generate more than a hundred million dollars per year.

Bradshaw said shovels go into the ground in 2027. Construction is expected to wrap up in just under five years from now, in early 2031.

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