Salt Lake County is getting ready to send the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace convention center upward, not outward, with a major overhaul that adds a second ballroom while keeping the building’s footprint the same. The reworked facility will rise higher, stacking event spaces instead of spreading them across more land, a strategy aimed at protecting valuable downtown parcels while still boosting capacity. County leaders are eyeing a construction start in 2027, with phased work stretching into the early 2030s.
In a county news release, Salt Lake County said the project is designed to modernize the convention center, add a second ballroom so it can host multiple large events at once, and tap proceeds from a land transfer to help pay for it. According to Salt Lake County, the redevelopment could generate roughly $105 million in additional economic impact each year, on top of the roughly $426 million the Salt Palace already brings in annually. The county also notes that shifting previously tax‑exempt property onto the tax rolls will create new revenue streams for state, county and city governments.
County Council member Arlyn Bradshaw told KSL NewsRadio the goal is to "build up" the Salt Palace instead of expanding its footprint, with the convention center expected to grow by one to two stories in height while maintaining its existing square footage. Bradshaw described the redesign as part of a larger "sports, entertainment, culture and convention district" meant to better connect the Salt Palace with the Delta Center, Abravanel Hall, and nearby cultural venues. He added that county leaders want a higher-capacity facility that still fits comfortably next to surrounding neighborhoods.
Timeline and who's designing it
Salt Lake County has tapped both local and national players to steer the overhaul, hiring MHTN Architects in partnership with Populous to handle design, and Construction Control Corporation alongside RLB Holdings to oversee construction management, as reported by KSL.com. Officials say the programming and design phase is already underway and that partial demolition could start in early 2027, followed by phased construction that keeps sections of the convention center operating throughout the work. More renderings are expected as design progresses, and county leaders say they plan to sync construction with other downtown projects in an effort to limit headaches for visitors and neighbors.
Money, the sale and downtown impact
Deseret News reported the County Council voted to sell about a dozen parcels totaling roughly 6.5 acres to Smith Entertainment Group for about $55.4 million, with the transaction currently scheduled for Feb. 16, 2027. County materials say converting that acreage from tax‑exempt status to taxable property will generate new annual property tax revenue, and that the convention center upgrades could add millions more in sales tax receipts for state and local governments, according to the Salt Lake County Mayor's Office. Officials have also tied the project schedule to broader downtown plans and say the work should be wrapped well ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics, when the Salt Palace could serve as a media base or support site.
What comes next: the county expects to release additional renderings by mid‑2026, and an active RFP process will choose a construction contractor before any highly visible demolition begins, according to KSL.com. Community meetings and formal design reviews are likely as architects finalize phasing and access plans, and officials insist they intend to avoid long full shutdowns of the convention center during the upgrade. For downtown hotels, restaurants and shops, the project promises larger conventions and more foot traffic on the back end, but it will also bring a long stretch of cranes, cones and construction noise that county leaders say they are betting will be worth the trouble.
