Downtown district plan adds 6,000-seat concert hall and rebuilt Delta Center entrance

Smith Entertainment Group and local leaders on Wednesday released renderings of the planned makeover of downtown Salt Lake City around the Delta Center and the Salt Palace Convention Center, showing a new concert venue, shops, restaurants and pedestrian walkways, FOX 13 News reported. ^[1]

In a video posted to social media, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson and SEG CEO Ryan Smith presented the plans. Smith said a 6,000-seat concert hall next to the convention center is expected to host 80 to 120 shows a year, and the Delta Center's main entrance will be rebuilt to face east toward a retail area with stores, restaurants and a new hotel. ^[1]

Loading docks along Japantown Street would give way to retail and office space and street murals, and the convention center would be renovated with flexible meeting rooms and new exhibit halls. Abravanel Hall would stay where it is, with work limited to areas patrons do not see. ^[1]

Mendenhall said the Salt Palace now acts as a wall dividing downtown and that the goal is a walkable connection between the Delta Center and City Creek. She said the Delta Center brings more than $970 million to the city's economy and that she expects 5 million people a year to visit the district, which is planned to be finished before the 2034 Winter Olympics. ^[1]