Much has changed since Brigham Young organized Zion's Savings Bank & Trust Co. 134 years ago. Downtown Salt Lake City has grown, and waned, and is on the cusp of another major renovation.
A lot has changed, too, at Zions Bank, which Thursday celebrated the rededication of the renamed Zions Bank Building at One South Main.
The dedication ceremony included a dedicatory prayer by President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was attended by dignitaries including Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., the Rev. France Davis, businessman Larry H. Miller and former Brigham Young University football coach LaVell Edwards.
"This building was the first new high-rise in modern-day Salt Lake City," Harris Simmons, Zions Bancorp. president and chief executive officer, said at the ceremony. "It was part of the vision that President Nathan Eldon Tanner of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had to ensure the vitality of the downtown area. It's a commitment that the church has continued to uphold, as this Zions Bank Building becomes an anchor for the marvelous new development that will rise up around us."
The renovated building — formerly the Kennecott Building, and later as Gateway Tower East — was improved to include seismic upgrades, upgraded elevators and new electrical and mechanical systems, in addition to the new "skin" that adorns its exterior.
More than 600,000 pounds of Kennecott copper was removed during the renovation, replaced by granite, limestone and glass. The building mirrors the adjacent Gateway Tower West and will anchor the church's City Creek development, now under way.
"This is a cornerstone property of the City Creek project," Huntsman said. "It is an example of what is to come. And if this is an example of what is to come, then our entire community should be very, very excited, indeed, about what our city is going to look like in the years to come. Indeed, we are a state on the move, and transforming very, very quickly."
Huntsman called the building a "beacon of industry" and the bank a beacon of hope to Utah.
"This is not just a financial institution," Huntsman said. "It permeates so many good causes around the state, it lifts us to better heights and (does) so many things that otherwise would be left to government to do."
Zions Savings Bank & Trust was organized in 1873 by Brigham Young with $200,000 in capital stock. Located just south of ZCMI, it quickly outgrew its quarters and moved to Main Street between South Temple and 100 South. In 1884, bank directors approved the purchase of property on the northeast corner of Main Street and South Temple, which became the Templeton — and later, the Kennecott — building at One Main Street.
The LDS Church owned a majority interest in Zions Savings Bank and its two competitors, which were merged into Zions First National Bank in 1957. Three years later, the church decided to divest itself of its banking interests and a group of businessmen, including Roy W. Simmons, Leland B. Flint and Judson S. Sayre, organized Keystone Insurance & Investment Co. and bought majority control of the bank. Keystone was later renamed Zions Bancorp.
Today, Zions includes eight wholly-owned banks with $47 billion in total assets, doing business in 10 Western states. Zions Bank operates 112 branches in Utah, plus 23 branches in Idaho.
The 18-story, 305,000-square-foot Zions Bank Building will house about 1,000 Zions Bank and Zions Bancorp. employees, as well as the law offices of Callister Nebeker & McCullough.
In his dedicatory prayer, President Hinckley called Zions "one of the great pioneer institutions of this community."
"We commend those who made the decision to locate the bank and its associated properties in this location," he said. "May it ever be a bright and shining star in the business community of Salt Lake City, and may its influence extend and be felt across the nation."
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com