The stone foundation of Social Hall - uncovered last May by workers constructing an underground pedestrian walkway in Salt Lake City - was returned to its orginial site March 6 after it had been removed to allow for construction.
The south wall of the Social Hall - Utah's oldest public building - was unearthed on the east side of State Street between South Temple and 100 South while workers were constructing the walkway under State Street. (See Church News, June 15, 1991, and Dec. 28, 1991.)The sandstone foundation was cut into eight-foot sections and temporarily stored off site while workers prepared the area for the return of the walls. A glass enclosure will cover the foundation once it is put in its original location. The enclosure, paid for by the Church, will include a historic gallery and will also be the east access to the underground walkway. Grand opening of the structure is scheduled for June 2.
Social Hall was one of Salt Lake City's earliest landmarks and was the first theater built west of the Missouri River. It was built in 1852 under the direction of Brigham Young only five years after the pioneers settled in the Salt Lake Valley.
Social Hall was demolished after its surroundings became a thriving business section and the hall was condemned as unsafe, according to the Encyclopedic History of the Church by Andrew Jenson.