Big-D Pacific Builders

Owner:

Big-D Pacific Builders

Client:

Salt Lake City Corporation

Scope Of Work

The historic Salt Lake City & County Building was originally constructed in the 1890s and would replace the Salt Lake City Council Hall and the Salt Lake County Courthouse. It also served as Utah’s Capitol Building until the present Utah State Capitol was completed in 1915. Prior to the renovation, the City & County Building was home to the elected leaders of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County. In 1989, nearly 100 years after it was initially constructed, the building underwent an upgrade to help protect the structure from earthquakes. Big-D Construction worked hand-in-hand with the city to perform stone repair and seismic upgrades to the historic building.

The three-year project commenced in the summer of 2016 with stone restoration work on the building’s tower. A waterproofing product was added to the stone to help protect the building from Utah’s notorious snowy winter seasons. Crews also installed concrete beams to the foundation to help provide support to the structure in the event of an earthquake. Salt Lake City sits up against the Wasatch Fault – an active fault line that stretches from Southern Idaho through Central Utah. Scientists have noted that the Wasatch Fault is overdue for a major earthquake.

Seismic work was completed in the spring of 2017. Crews also performed repair work to the exterior window trims of the City & County Building. Work on the lower portions of the building was complete in the winter of 2017.

Credit to the craftsmanship of the stonemasonry needs to be given to Jeff Eakle. Jeff meticulously carved the stone features now located on the historic City & County Building. The building boasts two carvings modeled on a Kosmoceratops – a dinosaur discovered at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Our team, along with Eakle, worked with paleontologists at the Natural History Museum of Utah to create these carvings.

Our teams also worked carefully to restore the building’s Kyune sandstone façade. Much of this restoration had to be done by hand. During this time, we also installed new windows. In fact, the entire project was orchestrated in phases starting from the ground and working our way up. Each step of the renovation was outlined in photos that were strategically placed throughout the building.