Rejected Salt Lake Tribune Op-Ed (November, 16 2021)
This was an op-ed I sent to the Salt Lake Tribune November, 16 2021. I also sent multiple retractions and corrections to inaccurate information they published in their previous articles about the Historic Utah Pantages Theater and the $0 deal around it. They refused to publish this op-ed or change their past articles saying “…the fact that other people have different priorities and values from you does not make what they say inaccurate or in need of correction.”
It’s unfortunate it’s now the official view of The Salt Lake Tribune, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that claims to have the community’s best interests in mind, that facts are merely different opinions.
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Thousands of words have been written about the 103-year-old Utah Pantages Theater and this current deal to destroy it, but somehow the truth of this majestic public building continues to elude the community, staying trapped inside the golden walls of our century old movie palace. In reality, this is not a good deal for Salt Lake City, for Utah, or even for the rest of the world.
On Friday, Mayor Mendenhall and the City released a statement implying that the theater was beyond repair and that it was in the interest of the public to trade the historic theater to Texas based Hines, a developer that manages a $160 billion global portfolio, supposedly for “affordable housing”, “green space”, “public art”, and to help with “many of our city’s current needs” but this deal brings none of those.
The Pantages theater, four neighboring small businesses, and the land they sit on is currently worth around $20 million. Under the contract to acquire the theater for $0, Hines must make 10% of their residential units affordable to households earning “60–80% of the County’s area median income”. However, the vast majority of the 40 planned affordable units are studio apartments. With AMI being $92,900/year, these apartments would only be affordable to those making between $55,740-$73,750 with rents being between $1,527-$2,044/month. The current federal poverty level for a family of four is $26,500/year. As a result, Hines is destroying a publicly owned, historic and culturally significant building and five local businesses for free, in exchange for building 40 unaffordable luxury studio apartments. A deal that will do nothing to “help our city’s current needs”.
The city says we need more green space downtown while not acknowledging there is a city park on the Pantages block already. Dinwoody Park, better known as the patio space for the Caffé Molise/Ivy Restaurants. That space is surprisingly a city owned park that has been privatized, fenced off, and closed to the public. Dinwoody Park is also a functioning midblock walkway. Even worse, the “pocket park” Hines is building is nothing more than a patio terrace on top of a parking garage. It would be better to use public funds to expand the public park we already have on that block. Hines additionally must build a midblock walkway, like the one connecting Main Street to Regent Street, but they aren’t building a midblock walkway at all, simply a staircase up to their parking garage patio terrace.
Finally, the city promises “public art”, but destroying Utah’s grandest theater is defunding our public arts. Fully restoring and reopening the Pantages is the greatest artistic investment Salt Lake City can make this century that will bring decades of rewards. The Pantages is already internationally recognized and would bring in millions, both dollars and people, through tourism to our great state.
Contrary to the City’s claims, the Pantages can unequivocally still be restored, and it’s not beyond repair as there is zero mold/water/fire damage anywhere in the theater. Every national expert, such as Evergreene Architectural Arts and the League of Historic American Theatres, says that our theater is in incredible shape for its age and that the real restoration costs fall between $35–40 million. If that sounds like a lot, it isn’t. The Capitol theater just finished a $33 million eight-year restoration and the Eccles Theater across the street was built for $135 million. Restoring the Pantages would create a Historic Theater District that would increase the profitability of all our beloved theaters, just like Michael Ballam has successfully done in Logan, UT. where they have four treasured theaters that generate over $20 million/yearly of economic impact.
No, none of this $0 Mendenhall/Hines deal is for the advancement of our city, but only for the benefit of the Texas based Hines Corporation. Mayor Mendenhall and the City Council’s responsibilities and obligations lie with the people of Salt Lake, not Hines, not the profits of developers and corporations. The truth of the matter is that our Historic Utah Pantages Theater is too valuable to trade at all and the best benefit for Utah’s future is for it to be returned to the hands of the people to be restored and reopened immediately.
-Michael Valentine
