For the first time in 20 years, the public was allowed to enter the Utah Theater on Main Street Saturday.
The theater, also known as the Orpheum or the Pantages, was built in 1919, first for vaudeville and later for film, and once was one of Salt Lake's greatest places for entertainment.
In December Salt Lake's Redevelopment Agency purchased the long-time vacant theater for $5.5 million, volunteer guides said. The RDA, with the help of the Utah Heritage Foundation invited the public inside for tours in an effort to gain some feedback on how to best use the property.
Jane Anderson, a volunteer for the event, remembers when a night out to the beautiful Utah Theater on Main Street in Salt Lake only cost 30 cents.
"Thirty cents would do it in the forties. Ten cents round-trip for the bus, 15 cents for the movie and five cents for a root beer next door," Anderson said.
Through the caution tape, cracking plaster, dust and supplied lighting, it is still possible to see the once beautiful and grand lobby that Anderson describes. She saw it when she was there for the world premiere of the original "My Friend Flicka" film in April of 1943. "Roddy McDowall and Gov. Maw were there for the premiere too," Anderson said. "I'd like to see this place look like it did way back then."
And Anderson isn't the only one.
Original paintings, marble banisters and plaster friezes, some dating back to 1919, are precious, some said. Many commented on how the destruction of the theater would be a serious loss of history and heritage.
Gregory McDonugh, whose grandfather was a stage manager for the Pantages, toured the theater with his wife, Karel, and spoke of restoring the building.
"Once you lose your architectural heritage, it's gone. You can't replace it," Karel said.
Ray Kingston, Utah architect, accompanied by his friends Randolph Holladay and Dave Marsh, commented that Mayor Ralph Becker, who has made construction of a new Broadway-style theater on Main Street a priority, should take the money he wants to use for that theater and put it into the restoration of the Utah Theater.
"Everybody used to come here! We used to watch movies. It was elegant. The Utah Theater is part of history that shouldn't be destroyed," said Marsh.
Kirk Huffaker, executive director of the Utah Heritage Foundation also said, the theatre is a landmark and has potential to serve a new cultural purpose. "This is a space that really brings feeling out of people," he said.
The RDA will consider public input.
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