Salt Lake County wants to keep Abravanel Hall ‘in its present form,’ mayor says

It appears that a proposed “sports, entertainment, cultural and convention district” may include Abravanel Hall “in its present form” after all.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson announced Tuesday afternoon she's "working diligently" on a project design that would not impact the 45-year-old concert hall that the county owns and operates.

"I am working diligently on a reimagined downtown and a district design that allows Abravanel Hall to remain in its present form and value the feedback from the community," she wrote in a prepared statement.

Abravanel Hall is "a critical anchor" of the plan, added Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall in a post on social media platform X Tuesday evening.

"I am grateful we have partners in Mayor Wilson and (Smith Entertainment Group) who believe we must lift and include our great institutions of arts and culture as we look to revitalize downtown," she wrote.

Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City are currently negotiating with Smith Entertainment Group over a plan for a district surrounding the Delta Center. Smith Entertainment Group initiated the planning process last month, utilizing a bill that the Utah Legislature passed to create a downtown revitalization zone.

The company's plan calls for a "sports, entertainment, cultural and convention district" around an arena that will be renovated to accommodate Utah's new National Hockey League franchise and the Utah Jazz. It focuses on the Delta Center block and two blocks east of it, including the Salt Palace Convention Center and other buildings like Abravanel Hall.

Mike Maughan, Smith Entertainment Group's project principal, said last week that the group wanted to keep Abravanel Hall and the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in its plan; however, its future was still up in the air. Wilson said the building could be torn down and rebuilt if not renovated.

Wilson's and Mendenhall's statements on Tuesday appear to indicate the tone has changed over the past week.

Abravanel Hall is home to the Utah Symphony and other events. An online petition asking the three groups to save the building gained more than 30,000 signatures in just 10 days.

Meanwhile, the Salt Lake City Council is slated to hold a public hearing on its participation in the process. The city is required to reach an agreement on a plan with Smith Entertainment Group by Sept. 1, which would then have to be approved by a new state commission to the renovation district.

The City Council also has through the end of the year to vote on whether to enact a 0.5% sales tax increase that can be used to pay for projects within the district.