history lesson could help save the Great Salt Lake...Next at shrinking great salt lake. At
one point.. it was home to a
lake-front resort bringing in
big crowds.. including
celebrities and U.S.
Presidents. News specialist
Dan Spindel looks into the
rise and fall of that resort
and how it ties into our
efforts to -save the precious
resource.
1:47-1:52 The Great
Saltair ... You've certainly
seen what looks more like a
modern knock-off palace from
the Ottoman Empire - the
roadside attraction of sorts
just off I-80 near Lakepoint.
PLACE Chris Merritt, a
state Historic Preservation
Officer, told me step one in
speaking about this strange,
historic structure is getting
the history straight first.
Because, after all, THIS
building is an imposter.
...FESTOONED TO LOOK LIKE THE
FIRST TWO SALTAIR RESORTS
Fitting that a historian uses
words that harken back to
another time. Let's take a
trip back to the Gilded Age of
the 1890's when a building
rose from the desert soil to
define a region... No -
not the Salt Lake Temple -
finished in 1893. That
same year, leadership for the
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints were excited
about something less spiritual
in nature - but for some...
seeing the Great Saltair for
the first time... may also
have been a religious
experience. THIS WAS GRAND.
THIS WAS MASSIVE
ARCHITECHTURE. AND IT WAS
MEANT TO BE IMPOSING AND IT
WAS MEANT TO BE THIS WORLDWIDE
FEATURE PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO
COME TO They built it...
and the people did come.
For the better part of a
quarter century, this massive
100 foot tall pavillion lake
front resort hosted those
looking for rest and
relaxation away from the
city... and it was easy to get
here on the train straight
from downtown - a 16 mile long
straight shot. But if you
searched today for any sign of
the bandstand, the midway
games, the shops selling root
beer and 10 cent dolls to the
masses - the dressing rooms
lining what was a spacious
section of this bouyant salt
water bay - chances are you
wouldn't find anything. THOSE
PILES THAT ARE WAY OUT
THERE... THAT WAS SALTAIR I
I followed Chris for more
than a mile onto what is now
flat, long-since-dry lake bed
without many notable features.
But he knows just where to
look. Wooden poles
preserved by the salt that
used to
hold up the rail line over the water. Posts that ran electric and telephone lines.
Even pieces of bottles and
dishes that tell the story of
days gone by... Countless
hundreds of thousands showed
up year
after year to stand, sit and swim in awe of this wonder of the West through waters
thought to have healing in the
shallow depths. I LOVE IT
BECAUSE IT GIVES ME
PERSPECTIVE ON MY OWN PLACE IN
THIS STORY FROM THE PIONEERS
TO U.S. PRESIDENTS WHO ENJOYED
BATHING IN THE WATERS WHERE
I'M STANDING RIGHT NOW THE
GREAT SALT LAKE WAS A DRAW FOR
MORE THAN 50 YEARS AND PERHAPS
IF THE MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF
THE WATER ITSELF WERE
OVERBLOWN, WHAT WE KNOW FOR
SURE LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
IS THAT THIS GREAT FIXTURE OF
OUR REGION ISN'T GOING TO FIX
ITSELF PEOPLE LOVED COMING TO
THE LAKE. PEOPLE LOVED
RECREATING OUT HERE. THIS IS
HOW THEY SPENT THEIR WEEKEND.
THIS IS HOW THEY SPENT THEIR
4TH OF JULY The world's
largest dance floor... the
Sunday concerts... even the
eventual roller coaster
couldn't save this space from
destruction as fire gutted the
"Great" structure in the
middle of the roaring 20's.
So Saltair II was born with a
lot of promise. But not
long after it re-opened to a
crowd of 10 thousand - big
changes would threaten to
shutter it for good. WHEN THE
LAKE WATERS GO UP, EVERYBODY'S
HAPPY. WHEN THE LAKEWATER
GOES DOWN, BUSINESSES CLOSE
The lake water or lack
thereof... coupled with the
Great Depression... followed
by another World War. The
writing was on the wall for
years and after limping along
into the 1950's - what was
once great became a relic of
the past ... falling into
decay and eventually burning
to the ground for the last
time more than 50 years ago.
So how does this lost
history help us save the Great
Salt Lake today? I'M NOT A
BIOLOGIST. I'M NOT A
GEOLOGIST. I'M NOT A WATER
SCIENTIST. BUT I'M LIKE HERE'S
THE HISTORY. HERE'S HOW WE'VE
INTERACTED WITH THE LAKE.
HERE'S ITS CONNECTION TO ALL
OF US THAT WE NEED TO TAKE
INTO ACCOUNT DO YOU THINK WE
HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADJUST
AND FIX AND BRING BACK SOME OF
THE GLORY OF THE LAKE, IS IT
POSSIBLE? I THINK SO. I THINK
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE I'M
STANDING IN A PLACE THAT
CELEBRATED THE LAKE FOR 60
YEARS. I ITHINK THAT'S PRETTY
NEAT. AND IT'S A STORY THAT WE
DON'T TELL ENOUGH OF As
far as the yellow knock-off
along the freeway... they say
imitation is the most sincere
form of flattery. If you
celebrate something... you
love it and if you love it -
Chris tells me... you'll save
it. Reporting from the
Great Saltair, Dan Spindle,
KSL5 News.
You can sign up to tour
the historic Saltair site.. on
the Great Salt Lake
Collaborative website.. Great
Salt Lake News dot org.
ADLIB TOSS TO WX