8/10/2019 Relics of the Past, Roadmaps to the Future

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Relics of the Past, Roadmaps to the FutureSoren Simonsen | director, Salt Lake Historic Landmarks Commission

Point of View:Our landmarks define who we are and whats important to us. If we care about those things to anyextent, we should do whatever it takes to save and preserve and protect those landmarks.

By DUSTIN TYLER JOYCE | URBPL 2010 | THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2004

What is a landmark? And, more importantly, what obligation do we have to protect those buildings and places

that we have designated as our landmarks? As we look to our future and yet try to remember our past, these

are questions that we must ask ourselves.

Is a landmark simply an old building? And if a landmark is simply an old building, then how old does

it have to be for us to call it a landmark? Is a landmark a big building, one that you can see from almostanywhere in the city and that you use to get your bearings and understand your sense of place? What

characteristics other than age and size qualify a building as a landmark?To the first of these questions I would have to answer no, though age and history frequently factor

into the equation. After all, the oldest buildings in our community are those buildings that have always been

with us. They remind us of a by-gone past upon which our present and subsequently our future are built.

They embody our history and as such become a sort of roadmap showing us where we came from and,hopefully, where were going. They become anchors in a community and world of change, they house our

most important and abiding institutions, and they witness the living out of our lives.

But I know plenty of old buildings in this place that deserve no such distinction, however old they

may be. Gateway Tower East comes to mind. Conversely, I know of several older buildingsthe Salt Lake

Temple, the Tabernacle, or the City and County Buildingthat seem fresh and up to the times in spite of

their age. And I know plenty of newer, un-aged buildings that provide a greater sense of permanence and

feeling of place than many of their neighbors several decades older. Think of the new Salt Lake City Public

Library and the instant entrance into our lexicon of landmarks that it madeimmediately when it openedanyone could easily say, Meet me at the new library, and everyone knew exactly what they meant.

(And, no matter what happens to the old City Library, the new one will almost certainly always bejust thatthe new library. Funny how we tend to do that.)

So all of that just complicates the answer to the question, what is a landmark? A landmark, I feel, is abuilding that is simply important to us. And, at that, important to a lot of usto our community as a whole.

Hence the reason so many of our older buildings get torn down: they may be important to some of us, but if

theyre not important enough to our community to save, one would be hard-pressed to make a strong

argument that they are truly landmarks. It could be big, old, frequently referred to in our everyday language,

home of high school proms or the events that shape our lives, and yet if the buildingor, perhaps, thoseeventsis not important enough to us, we wont bat an eyelash when the building is gone.

But there are many such buildings in this place and across the country that are deserving of suchprotection. However, sometimes we have to have the importance of these buildings pointed out to us. Hence

the reason for the Salt Lake Historic Landmarks Commission but also the reason for that second question I

asked at the beginning. And my answer to that question is that our obligation to save and preserve and protectthese buildings is enormous. It supersedes private property rights or financial and economic constraints and

desires. Just think about all the times youve seen old photographs of, say, Salt Lake City or some other placeand you see things that were there that no longer are. For me, personally, the sense of loss and resentment

over such things can be profound. We today are having to live with the mistakes of the past: having their

desires and beliefs and ambitions imposed upon usthings we will never benefit from. Yet in their selfish

ambition and lack of foresight, we must suffer from what they took from us. We can always build new

buildings, but we can never resurrect old ones.Our older buildings are much more than just piles of stone, glass, and concrete. They are, in many

ways, just as important members of our community as any individual. Our rejoicing in their successes andtriumphs, as well as our mourning of their demise, can and rightfully should be just as strong as it could be for

any person. They make us who we are, and without them, the question arises, Who have we become?