“The contrasting phrases and interesting word selection align with Salt Palace’s sense of place. It’s a facility in which there is discourse, questioning and learning. ‘Point of View’ illustrates those disciplines very well.”
The old adage of art reflecting the artist has taken on new meaning in Salt Lake City, where a new art installation in front of the Salt Palace Convention Center reflects a city ready to invigorate corporate planning as well as the cerebral journeys of the thousands of attendees who visit the city every year. “Point of View” features more than 150 road signs, some in diametrical, black and white words like “catch/throw” and “speak/silence” and “sublime/ridiculous,” along with a splash of red paint that points to a red bench, reminding attendees, “You Are Here.”
The point, says Salt Palace General Manager Dan Hayes, is to connect attendees to the essence of the center, which is that of discourse, questioning and learning. “The contrasting phrases and interesting word selection align with the Salt Palace’s sense of place.” “Point of View” is also being positioned as the premier selfie spot for convention goers, though the new 2,500-seat Eccles Theatre will also make a vibrant selfie backdrop when it opens this October in the heart of the city’s new cultural district. Eccles ushers Broadway into the artsy mountain town, and will undoubtedly join ranks with The Leonardo and Natural History Museum of Utah in terms of popular cultural meeting and event venues, while also joining other prized downtown arts venues such as the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera, which performs a former a vaudeville house, the architecturally stunning Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre.
Salt Lake Incentive Options
In what is considered the “genealogy capital of the world,” excursions to the Family History Library and Family Search Center could provide groups with unique and colorful insights into their ancestry. The library is the largest of it’s kind in the world with access to over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records. Other fun possibilities include seeing the city by GREENbike, exploring historic sites such as the Beehive House, the Historic Trolley or Temple squares or reenactments at the Golden Spike National Historic Site, where the nation’s first transcontinental railroad was completed. Salt Lake City’s foodie scene is also worth a gander. And for an out of the box meeting, considering the Thanksgiving Point Institute, which is a farm, garden, 3D movie theatre, golf course and museum spread over 55 acres.
New Developments
The transformation of Salt Lake began in 2012 with the completion of City Creek, a mixed-use development in the city’s downtown core. Here, groups will find restaurants and retail; fishponds, fountain shows and the occasional Pokémon GO tournament. Downtown has also seen a flurry of new hotel development and refurbishments. Topping the list of new properties is the 159-room Hyatt House Salt Lake City, adjacent to the convention center, and 175-room Courtyard by Marriott. The historic Peery Hotel, whose architecture is rooted in the early prairie and classical revival styles of the early 20th century, is currently undergoing a major revamp. Throughout the hotel nods to the railroad and mining industry and stirring bouts with unexpected art will give glimpse of the city past and present.
Just outside of Salt Lake, in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Snowbird Sky & Summer Resort just underwent a $35 million reno of The Cliff Lodge, and completed construction of The Summit, a bookable day lodge perched high on Hidden Peak. Encased in floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook Mineral Basin, the venue, accessible by the resort’s 100+ passenger aerial tram, offers a fun alternative to the usual sit and go transfers.
A soon to be named 800 to 1,000-room convention headquarter hotel is also creating some excitement in the MICE world; it will sit adjacent to Salt Palace when it opens in 2018.
