1946
Last trolleys replaced by buses.
1972 Wally Wright redesigns the barns as Trolley Square Mall.
$3.5 million in barns, trolleys and electrical grid was on the cutting edge of 20th century technology. “It was the top-of-the-line, best-in-thecountry, state-of-the-art, world-class trolley system,” DeGroote says. “Harriman wanted it to be a shining example of Progress.” And through the 1920s, it was. By the 1930s, however, Utah Light & Traction Company had peaked and began replacing its trolley lines with bus routes. In 1946, buses had replaced the last trolleys and Utah Traction became Utah Power and Light.
Rebirth II: Retail and Tragedy
The barns deteriorated for decades until local developer Wally Wright converted them into a historically sensitive shopping center in the early 1970s. Wright not only preserved the barns, but he incorporated parts of historical buildings, including facades of Salt Lake’s demolished Culmer and Dinwoody mansions and fragments of Tooele’s Anaconda Mine. The vertical supports for the shopping center’s banisters are curved like the cowcatchers of the early trolleys. “There are all kinds of historic treasures hidden here,” says DeGroote as he points out an ornate mansion staircase transplanted into an optical shop. Because of Wright’s thoughtful remodel, Trolley Square was more than a shopping center, attracting tourists—it was the second most popular sight for out-of-towners after the Mormon Temple.
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2007
Sulejman Talovic, 18, guns down nine shoppers, killing five before police kill him.
Its collection of boutiques, pubs and entertainment centers prospered through the 1980s and 1990s. But a new century brought setbacks—the most memorable was a terrifying mass shooting in February 12, 2007, that left five dead and four wounded before the lone gunman, 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic, was gunned down by police. A year later, the Great Recession delivered the final blow. Despite an on-going $60 million renovation and the arrival of Whole Foods, Trolley Square’s occupancy, which peaked a few years earlier at 96 percent, dropped by half. Bankruptcy soon followed.
Rebirth III: Gem for a new generation
Semnani picked up the pieces by buying the owners’ debt and has begun a remodel that will include a museum and a visitors center. His vision began with restoring the obliterated concrete “U.L.&R.Co.” medallions on the barns’ arches. “We were lucky to find one that was not destroyed,” Semnani says. “[The restorationists] are literally artists in their own right. It was a major project. They made a mold of the remaining one and we recreated it.” S.K. Hart is expected to put upwards of $1 million into restoration and remodeling. The first milestone in Trolley Square’s on-going resurrection was marked by the renovation of its landmark water tower last fall. “Historic value is very important to us. That’s why we are spending all this money,” Semnani says. To