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The Rise and fall of the Great Saltair: The search for Utah’s lost world class lakefront resort

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The Rise and fall of the Great Saltair: The search for Utah’s lost world class lakefront resort


SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — The Nice Salt Lake has fascinated the world for hundreds of years. From the nomadic peoples of our pre-history dwelling alongside the shoreline to the trendy settlers within the Valleys of the Wasatch Entrance.

And whereas the pure scope brings numerous magnificence, sometimes, one thing man-made creates simply as spectacular a spectacle.

The Nice Saltair would match that description. You’ve definitely seen what seems to be extra like a contemporary knock-off palace from the Ottoman Empire, the roadside attraction of types simply off Intersate 80 close to Lakepoint.

The present Nice Saltair constructing.

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“It’s a unusual place,” mentioned Dr. Chris Merritt, a State Historic Preservation Officer.

He mentioned that talking about this unusual, historic construction is getting the historical past straight first. As a result of, in any case, this constructing is an imposter.

“[It’s just] festooned to appear like the primary two Saltair Resorts.”

It’s becoming {that a} historian makes use of phrases like “festoon” that harken again to a different time.

Let’s make a journey again to the Gilded Age of the Nineties when a constructing rose from desert soil to outline a area. No, not the Salt Lake Temple, which was completed in 1893.

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That very same 12 months, management for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was enthusiastic about one thing much less religious in nature. However for some, seeing the Nice Saltair for the primary time should even have been a non secular expertise.

Saltair band late teenagers early 20s. (Utah State Historic Society)

“This was grand. This was huge structure. And it was meant to be imposing, and it was meant to be this worldwide characteristic that folks would wish to come to,” Merritt mentioned.

They constructed it, and the folks did come. For the higher a part of 1 / 4 century, this huge 100-foot-tall pavilion lakefront resort hosted these on the lookout for relaxation and leisure away from town, and it was simple to get right here on the prepare straight from downtown. A 16-mile-long straight shot introduced you proper to the entrance door.

However if you happen to searched right now for any signal of the bandstand, the halfway video games, the outlets promoting root beer and 10-cent dolls to the plenty – the dressing rooms lining what was a spacious part of this buoyant saltwater bay; likelihood is you wouldn’t discover something.

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“These piles which might be manner on the market, that was Saltair One.”

It’s now a flat, long-since-dry lake mattress with out many notable options. However Merritt is aware of simply the place to look.

Picket poles preserved by the salt that used to carry up the rail line over the water stand in the identical place. Posts that ran electrical and phone strains stay. Even items of bottles and dishes that inform the story of days passed by will be found simply beneath the floor.

Dan and Merrit strolling previous the stays of the Nice Saltair One.

A whole bunch of 1000’s confirmed up 12 months after 12 months to face, sit and swim in awe of this marvel of the West via waters thought to have therapeutic within the shallow depths.

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“I like it as a result of it offers me perspective alone place on this story.”

From pioneers to U.S. Presidents who loved bathing within the Nice Salt Lake waters, it was a draw for over 50 years. And maybe if the medicinal properties of the water itself had been overblown, what we all know for certain trying into the longer term is that this nice fixture of our area isn’t going to repair itself.

“Individuals cherished coming to the lake. Individuals cherished recreating out right here. That is how they spend their weekend. That is how they spent their 4th of July,” Merritt defined.

The world’s largest dance flooring, Sunday concert events, and even the eventual curler coaster couldn’t save this house from destruction as fireplace gutted the “Nice” construction in the course of the roaring 20s.

Saltair One on fireplace (Utah State Historic Society)

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So Saltair Two was born with numerous promise. However not lengthy after it re-opened to a crowd of 10,000, important modifications would threaten to shutter it for good.

“When the lake waters go up, all people’s pleased. When the lake water goes down, companies shut,” Merritt mentioned.

The lake water, or lack thereof, coupled with the Nice Despair, adopted by one other World Conflict, was the start of the top.

The writing was on the wall for years and after limping alongside into the Nineteen Fifties, what was as soon as nice grew to become a relic of the previous, falling into decay and ultimately burning to the bottom for the final time greater than 50 years in the past. So how does this misplaced historical past assist us save the Nice Salt Lake right now?

Saltair Two deserted earlier than its fireplace. (Utah State Historic Society)

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Merritt is evident about his position.

“I’m not a biologist. I’m not a geologist. I’m not a water scientist. However I’m like, ‘right here’s the historical past. Right here’s how we’ve interacted with the lake. Right here’s its connection to all of us that we have to keep in mind.”

Merritt was optimistic when requested methods to convey again that glory of the lake and if it was potential.

“I feel so. I feel something is feasible. I’m standing in a spot that celebrated the lake for 60 years. I feel that’s fairly neat, and it’s a narrative that we don’t inform sufficient.”

Concerning the yellow knock-off alongside the freeway, imitation is essentially the most honest type of flattery.

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When you have fun one thing, you like it, and if you happen to like it, Merritt says, you’ll put it aside.

The images used had been from the Utah State Historic Society, and you’ll signal as much as tour the historic Nice Saltair web site with Chris Merritt on the Nice Salt Lake Collaborative web site.

We wish to thank the Utah State Historic Society for sharing these unbelievable images with us. You may signal as much as tour the historic Nice Saltair web site with Chris Merritt on the Nice Salt Lake Collaborative web site.

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Amid traffic, Utah walked to Leafs’ arena pregame

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Amid traffic, Utah walked to Leafs’ arena pregame


TORONTO — The Utah Hockey Club said players were forced to walk to their game against the Maple Leafs after their bus got stuck in Toronto traffic Sunday night.

The team posted a video on social media of team members walking to Scotiabank Arena, with player Maveric Lamoureux saying the bus was “not moving at all.”

Several city streets had been closed during the day for an annual Santa Claus parade.

The Maple Leafs earned their fourth consecutive win by defeating Utah 3-2.

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The viral incident prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to call the congestion “embarrassing” and “unacceptable,” highlighting his government’s plan to address the city’s gridlock through bike lane legislation.

It wasn’t the first time a Toronto visitor had to ditch their vehicle to make it to an event on time.

In June, former One Direction band member Niall Horan had to walk through traffic to get to his concert at Scotiabank Arena.



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Utah Highway Patrol responds to your suggestions on making Utah roads safer

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Utah Highway Patrol responds to your suggestions on making Utah roads safer


SALT LAKE CITY — FOX 13 News is Driven to Change and that includes bringing you reports on important topics like road rage, construction, and wrong-way drivers. During our coverage, we continually ask for any questions or concerns you may have along Utah’s roadways.

The feedback has gotten an enormous response, so FOX 13 sat down with Lieutenant Cameron Roden on Good Day Utah to help address input we have been getting, from the perspective of Utah Highway Patrol.

Speeding in Utah, there’s so much of it, and then you can sometimes say that that leads to tailgating, which may lead to road rage incidents. What are you seeing out there in terms of speed and what can we do to lessen the effects of that?

Lt. Cameron Roden: Speed is our number one thing that we see. That’s our number one traffic stop that we make, and we know that it leads to the majority of crashes in the state of Utah. So we definitely put an emphasis on speed and it does lead to other things. Not just crashes. It leads to road rage and other things .So, as far as what changes can we make, we need to start with ourselves, and really say, ‘Hey, do I have a problem?’ You know, we just need to start with ourselves and not think that it’s something else’s problem. If we slow our speeds ourselves, and then it’ll start to to catch on and people will do that speed limit. So, but the legislature has definitely taken some steps to help us address, especially the the speeds that are those excessive speeds where we have that one zero five law now that addresses those speeds and increases fines and and hopefully discourages people from those extreme speeds.

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Some of our viewers talked about maybe capping some of the speed limits for truck drivers. Is that something that’s even feasible?

You know, that would be something that would have to go through that, that legislative process to see whether we that would be something that would help. But ultimately, if we we start with ourselves, hopefully that will make that change and reduce crashes and fatalities.

There are things being done to try and intervene and stop wrong-way drivers before they happen. But some of our viewers propose things like spikes. What are your thoughts on implementing something like that?

We’ve had over the last several years, a rash of wrong-way drivers, and it’ll come in onesie twos, and then we’ll go for a period of time without that. And so, but this spike over the last couple of years has caused us to to create a task force to look at wrongly driving what things can be done. And so getting all these stakeholders together between UDOT and Highway Safety, looking at what technologies and things that could be implemented, and and things like, wrong way detection cameras. Those are some things that are being actually used in the state of Utah right now to help us spot those and and advance signage, getting people to realize they’re going the wrong way and turn around. The the spike strips have actually been talked about in our task force a little bit. And if something like that would even be, it is that technology available right now. And as what we could actually implement in the state of Utah, there’s nothing that really fits the bill right now because of our environment. We have our snow plows. We have snow and things like that. Something like that really wouldn’t be practical right now.

Probably the most talked about topic that we’ve received was distracted driving, texting while driving. You went out, I saw on the UHP social media page, that you guys just driving and you look to your right and left and you can find someone texting. What kind of enforcement do we have against distracted driving specifically on your phone?

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This is something that we like you said, we see it every day. We go out to crashes,and and we may suspect that a driver may be distracted. And so, it’s something that’s definitely under-reported. It’s it’s a bigger problem than than the numbers really show.And so not only do we address it during our normal patrols.Our officers are seeing it, and addressing it while they’re out there.But we’ll also do targeted patrols where the highway safety office actually gives out additional funds for that targeted enforcement, where we’ll get an unmarked vehicle. We go out driving down the roads where we try to spot these vehicles and and get them stopped because those are those are a big danger on our roadways where our attention and our focus needs to be on driving.

If you have ideas or suggestions for how to make Utah’s roadways safer click here to be taken to our Driven to Change form. There you can share your ideas or suggestions.

DRIVEN TO CHANGE

Share your ideas on how to make Utah’s roads safer





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Utah National Guard gets new, top-of-the-line Apache helicopters

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Utah National Guard gets new, top-of-the-line Apache helicopters


WEST JORDAN, Utah — The Utah National Guard has been serving the state since 1894 with roots dating back to the Minutemen of the 17th-century American colonies.

This weekend, they received quite the boost in the form of the Army’s most advanced attack helicopter.

“These aircraft are extremely fast compared to our other aircraft,” said Col. Patrick.

On Saturday, the Utah National Guard took their new Apache helicopters for a spin.

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“The flight went better than we could have hoped for. A little weather on the east coast, but after that, it wasn’t bad at all,” Patrick said.

The first four of 24 Apaches arrived early Saturday morning after they went under full inspection.

“They’ve got software on there that it’s like playing a video game. You just fly the video game and the airplane… is fast and smooth, which is the good thing, and so it’ll just hold the altitude and airspeed and just keep on trucking along. It’s pretty good,” Patrick said.

The first Apache helicopters arrived in Utah back in 1992.

“It just continues the legacy of the air pirates and what we bring to not only Utah, but really to the global fight and security, really,” Patrick added.

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The colonel calls it a major step forward.

“What a great day for Utah as we advance into the next couple decades of combat operations and what we can provide to, you know, the global security.”





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