The Utah Jazz's old home court - without the advantage - is among a long list of Salt Palace surplus goods that will likely be sold sometime soon.
With purchase offers already coming in for some of the items, Salt Lake County commissioners have formed a committee to identify all of the valuable property in the Salt Palace and decide how to dispose of it."Several hundred thousand dollars could be collected from the sale of these things," said Sands Brooke, manager of the Salt Palace expansion project.
In addition to the wood floor, the surplus items include ice-making equipment, a couple of Zamboni (ice-cleaning) machines, scoreboards, hockey glass, nets, lockers, fixtures, seats and much more.
"We have identified a good number of things that would have high market values, as well as a lot of things with salvage value," Brooke said.
When the demolition work begins next year, a salvage contractor will take the bricks and other construction materials, but the sports, special events and office equipment will be removed and sold under county surplus property procedures.
The existing Salt Palace facilities are being torn down to make way for a new $65 million convention center. The project is expected to be completed by late 1995.Brooke said the committee will develop a plan for auctions and submit other recommendations to the commission to maximize returns.
"We want to determine what the market values are rather than have the prices set arbitrarily by unsolicited offers," he added.
Several out-of-state groups have expressed interest in buying the arena seats, and a number of sports organizations have inquired about the ice equipment.
This week, the commission received a $5,000 check from the Salt Lake Lutheran High School for the purchase of the arena floor. Administrator Lester H. Zim-mer-man informed commissioners that the floor is needed for the gymnasium at the school's new location at the old Captain Nemo property, 4000 S. 900 East.
"Our need for such a floor is critical to providing a quality program for our students, and since funding is limited, a new wood floor is beyond our budget," Zimmerman wrote.
Commissioners voted to refer the request to the new committee. Brooke said that while the committee will make recommendations, commissioners will ultimately decide whether items like the floor are sold as surplus property or handled philanthropically. He noted that a new basketball court costs about $50,000.
The Utah Jazz bought a new floor when they moved into the Delta Center but briefly borrowed their old one when the new floor wasn't delivered in time for pre-season games in 1991.