This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Outdoor Retailer trade shows, Salt Lake City's largest conventions, will remain in Utah along with the annual $32 million they generate annually for Utah's economy, industry leaders announced Wednesday.
But the victory did not come easy, nor will it be cheap.
The Outdoor Industry Association's decision to keep the shows in Utah is "contingent on the state of Utah's continued partnership with OIA to promote a recreation economy and to protect its recreation gems, and the timely and complete expansion of the Salt Palace" Convention Center at a cost of $58 million to $64 million, said OIA board member Lee Fromson, president of Cascade Designs.
A standing ovation led by an ecstatic Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman interrupted his statement. "This is something we had to work hard for," she said. "We gotta get at this right now, to get this [Salt Palace expansion] built."
The announcement ended a year of suspense for Utah business and political leaders who, after nine years of hosting the trade shows, had found themselves in competition with other cities, including Denver, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. The two shows each year bring about 34,000 visitors to Salt Lake City to market the newest camping, skiing and other outdoor recreational equipment to stores that sell it.
Although much of the state's effort to keep the shows centered on expanded convention facilities, a broader issue overshadowed the announcement. Last year, many outdoor retailers were outraged when then-Gov. Mike Leavitt and Interior Secretary Gale Norton reached an agreement to remove from possible wilderness protection 6 million acres of federal land in Utah. The OIA threatened to move the trade shows to a state with stronger environmental and recreational values.
Although OIA, which represents 4,000 companies, renewed its commitment to protecting the outdoors, its leadership emphasized Wednesday that federally designated wilderness is only one element of Utah's "recreational gems."
"We want a balance," OIA President Frank Hugelmeyer said. "We want places for people to play. That does include pristine wilderness. We expect these places to be protected."
In response to the retailers' outcry last year, Leavitt, now secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency, created a task force to search for ways to ensure Utah remains an outdoor recreation destination. OIA leaders credited Gov. Olene Walker's continued commitment to working with them as key to their decision to remain.
The bid to keep the show includes a 40 percent expansion of the Salt Palace that will add 145,000 square feet of new exhibition space. In addition, with legislative approval, the expansion could add another 70,000 square feet of meeting space. At present, overflow from the summer trade show fills a vast tent pitched behind the Salt Palace.
City and county officials say the effort to keep the outdoor retailers will have an additional benefit - the Salt Palace expansion will put Salt Lake City in the "big leagues" of convention sites.
"Without this, we wouldn't have gotten the Salt Palace expansion," said Salt Lake City Councilman Eric Jergensen, chairman of the redevelopment agency board. "We are going to see lots of other things change in how we host conventions. With the expansion, we are in with the big boys now."
The first step in the expansion will involve $10 million to $12 million in city and county money for construction - which will begin at the conclusion of this week's show - of a concrete pad and superstructure for the overflow tent at the 2005 summer show.
When that show ends, construction will begin immediately on the $45 million to $52 million exhibition hall.
Most of that funding will require state support, but officials say they have assurances the Legislature will support the project.
Said Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson: "I cannot imagine, considering this amazing opportunity for more than $32 million annually in economic benefits, that the Legislature would not enthusiastically support the expansion of the Salt Palace."