Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Richard Piatt reportingThe Boston Building, one of Salt Lake City's first skyscrapers, is almost a mirror image of the Newhouse Building on Exchange Place. It's been called a "downtown gem," and today we got a peek at what it will look like when it's refurbished.
Both Salt Lake's Boston and Newhouse buildings will celebrate their 100th anniversary next year. Nearly in time for the celebration, all 11 floors of the Boston Building have been torn out and will eventually be updated with respect to what was there.
"You don't find buildings being built with this kind of detailing, ornamentation, and really the beauty that you see inside the space," said Evan Cindrich, with Edwards and Daniels Architects.
Cindrich and his crews are still working on most of the floors, from the steel frame out. Along the way, certain features are preserved and updated: New marble keeps the period in the accessible, updated bathrooms; a classic mail chute was retained and restored.
The grand staircase that runs top to bottom was also restored. It's a feature that would probably never be included in a new building.
"We have gold detailing on each of the risers, which was reminiscent of some of the original details we were able to obtain on the property," said Bruce Bingham, with Hamilton Partners.
One of the features they made sure they preserved in this building was the tiles that line a couple floors of the staircase. Hundreds of thousands of the individual tiles were placed by hand.
The owners of the building, Hamilton Partners, are investing $10 million in this upgrade. Of course, they're hoping that will pay off with plenty of professional tenants.
"Just getting people to see the vision and to see the restoration that's taking place; that's been a challenge, but there's been a lot of interest and a lot of people through the building," said Eric Smith, with the CB Richard Ellis Group.
But even people outside walking past recognize this is not an ordinary building. It's the kind they don't make any more.
The other building on that square, the Newhouse Building, underwent a less extensive renovation more than a year ago.
A lot of people think the buildings are identical, but they're not. Instead, they're referred to as "fraternal twins."
E-mail: rpiatt@ksl.com
