| OCR Text |
Show IK The vdlt I. ike M.n Tribune 1W, Cityvii Why the seeming decline of Arrow Press Square? It is, I believe, nearly 20 years sim e those two small trees at the right of the sketch on this page were planted in the little patch of downtown greenery on West Temple near 200 South Just beyond the greensward an overpowering blue office building (lot all v dubbed the Blue Whale) speaks of modern times via reflective glass walls But just left of those trees the Jack Goodman rather ornate four-stor- structure with a heavy cornice, a three-storred brick building to the north and its dark brown neighbor extending to 100 South, date to a very different period m Salt Lake history one-stor- y Simultaneously, those structures, one with high narrow awnings, the other fronted by an ornate steel and glass canopy sheltering the two guys pizza emporium, are reminders of more recent times, a dozen years ago, when Arrow Press Square swarmed with the noontime and dinnertime crowds that have thinned crowds the last few years Ornate White Building The white building with ornate front and all, had its beginnings in 1909. Located at 121 S. West Temple, it was built as the Hotel Albert by Albert Fisher, a german emigrant of considerable prominence in the brewing industry Constructing properly blended beer concerned Fisher more than and his namesake successively became the Hotel Shelton, Hotel and Reid Hotel. The trademark, Fisher Beer, however, lasted until 1958 and then it vanished into the maw of a conglomerate, along with the offices next door hotel-- Whi-tehou- Auditions arc Saturday for performing group Auditions for the Young American Entertainers, the performing group of the American Dance Arts studio, are scheduled Saturday. Those interested should call Mary or Robert Lindsay at the studio, 5232 Greenpine Dr Murray, for an audition time. The tryouts are open to male and female dancers from junior high age and up The hotel was a happy centerpiece the city s district Up and down West Temple, such firms as Black & Deason, Union and Chnsmon & Nichols operated busy, picturesque assay offices Mining men brought their ore samples to the assayers from Eureka, Park City, Bingham and other diggings In those days, pedestrians, staring through open doors, in metal-minin- g rould see flames from tiny furnaces flaring in back rooms, while tiny scales measured the worth of refined precious metals Mining men whose ore samples assayed high in value would stride happily to the hotel bar for a draught of Albert Fisher's beer or something stronger. They could then cross the street to the offices of Sullivan Machine Co Ingersoll-Ranor Gardner-Denve- r to negotiate purchases of machinery with which to wrest fortune from their claims d , Behind Hotel Out behind the hotel, reached by a narrow alley, a Utah Power & Light Co generating station occupied an odd building lot or two, likewise in the rear a yellow, brick e building housed the heavy machinery of the old Arrow Press' three floors. The busy firm printed directories, legj sheets and stationery needed by local shops and attorneys. Unfortunately, for South Temple Street, hard-rocmining went into one of its increasingly lengthy slumps after World War II, major companies set up their own assay labs, and the street, just a block removed from Main Street, became shabby to say the least. Rescue arrived later in the form of the Salt Palace, the newly built Marriott Hotel and Triad-SheratoTowers Hotel, Symphony Hall and the Salt Lake Art Center. But, before downtown renovation funds produced the latter, a happy thought that somehow produced Arrow Press Square factory-styl- k n was born in the noggin of some unsung heroes One precipitating factor was assuredly the Utan Power & Light Company's decision to set green grass, shrubs, trees and pleasant brick walks around its outmoded substation If I m not mistaken, Ed N'aughton was UP&L president at the time, so much of the credit for providing downtown with this new plot of greensward should go to him Unsung Risk-taker- s Meanwhile, suih entrepreneurs as Milt Weilenmann f'lar fuund and other unsung private donations and public funds for retooling the old Arrow Press Building, the once ornate hotel and its neighbors The backsides of the Bennett and Dinwoodey buildings around the corner on 100 South were spruced up Walkways and railings went into s place to interconnect buildings. and street with a modest pai area Arrow Press Square was born For a time, swarms of hungry and thirsty visitors crowded spots such as the Dead Goat Saloon, The Winery and the Print Shop. Arrow Press Square soon gave every sign of rivalling Denver's Larimer Square as an attraction for tourists Alas, ours is a city seemingly doomed to provide either a drought or a flood of the good things in life. Trolley Square came into being almost simultaneously, while newly licensed clubs" proliferated in other parts of the city, as did pizza parlors, French restaurants, hamburger havens, bagel bakeries, croissant and crepe eateries, delis and even ice cream parlors. Not too many years later, the Triad Center arrived on the scene to further dilute customer attendance at Arrow Press Square. Not that our town's original rehab center is dead. The Two Guys from Italy pizza spa sets its tables outside the erstwhile Hoyle Alfred daily, thus offering a lure to folks seeking simultaneous sun and substance. The Hu- risk-taker- s ba'C-ment- Dra a iny Salt Lake Citys original rehab center, Arrow Press Square, is not dead, but it is not nan Restaurant offers Mandarin-Sze-chwa- jock Coodmuo busy place of the past when it gave signs of rivalling Larimer Square in Denver. and Second South, the glassy n cuisine One obvious reason for the seeming decline of Arrow Press Square in the public consciousness appears obvious to me The villain is that huge blue building at the corner of West Temple fc structure-plu- terrace currently s-parking housing the Bank of Utah, a brokerage, and a bevy of other firms When it went up, it success- brick road from public view Restaurants can't flourish if people can't see them, nor can an area dedicated to version of Salt Lake's ultra-milCafes are often no more night-lifthan assay offices, local breweries or small hotels d e fully blocked Arrow Press Square, its elderly yellow buildings and its red- - long-live- d SOFT CONTACTS EYEGLASSES (New Patients Only) $100 DOWN $100 PER MONTH Kawai Model GE-- 1 Sale Price $499 5 5450 Green Street S 53rd South) Murray Utah 84 123 Phone 268 4446 , AMERICAS BEST CONTACTS & EYEGLASSES Utah Toll Free (Call Now lot a No Obligation Appointment) 561-130- 0 26 West 7200 South (Just west of State St.. Midvale, Utah) Dr. Neil Frischknecht, O.D. Dr. Ron Rasband, O.D. OPEN EVENINGS AND SATURDAYS A Klw Hoots Oil vJISPv3KI EKSOM One of Americas premier western historians looks at Joseph Smiths early involvement with folk magic, the First Vision, the Book of Mormon, and the founding of Mormonism. Morgan 9 1 97 ), the author of such classics as Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West and The LVesf of William H Ashley, died befote e history of the Mormons However, completing his comprehensive, the chapters that survived offer a surprisingly insightful look at Mormon origins This publication also includes Morgan's correspondence with Juanita Brooks, Fawn Brodie Bernard DeVoto, and others Dale L ( 1 1 4-- 1 three-volum- 414 pages Preface by William Mulder. Biographical introduction by 20' John Phillip Walker. 'SSL NEW FROM hmZwP J |
