Salt Lake City International Airport Cuts the Ribbon with Live Streaming Event

RobinSaville / Pixabay
Salt Lake City International Airport features Gordon Huether's architecturally-integrated art installations.

Art and airport often fly together and Salt Lake City took the flight together with a live streaming event scheduled for Thursday August 27 featuring The Honorable Spencer J. Cox, Lieutenant Governor, Utah, Larry Cesspooch, Ute Spiritual Leader,Bill Wyatt, Executive Director, SLCDA,Chris Wharton, Salt Lake City Council Chair,The Honorable Erin Mendenhall, Mayor, Salt Lake City,Scott Santoro, Vice President, Delta Air Lines,Gordon Huether, Consulting Artist for The New SLC. SLC International Airport plans to accommodate 26 million passengers and will replace the five existing concourses with two linear concourses—the North Concourse and the South Concourse—which will be connected by a passenger tunnel. The $4 billion project is being built in phases with the first phase to open in 2020 and the second phase to be completed in 2024.

Nancy Volmer, the spokesperson for Salt Lake City International Airport explained on the 15th they “will close down the existing airport and open our new facility.” Volmer adds “a new roadway, new gates, new security terminal – everything will be brand new.”
When all is said and done, about 140 practice arrivals and departures will have been performed leading up to the opening of #TheNewSLC . During these test fits, the SAFEGATE Aircraft Docking System is tested and scans are performed to check for obstructions in the apron area. Photo credit: Sue Zaybal

Wyatt, head of the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, said to Airport World: “Without doubt, the new facilities are needed as they will transform the airport’s operational efficiency, set new customer service standards and enhance safety and security.

“They will also finally put us in the position to be able to attract new airlines to Salt Lake City and expand our route network, which is something we have been hindered from doing in the past by the capacity and operational restrictions of the existing facilities.”

Public Art will greet visitors

The new international airport is displaying the public artwork of artist Gordon Huether.  Huether is known for his large scale architectural art display. “The Falls” is no exception. A 65-foot-tall suspended sculpture comprised of roughly 300 dichroic glass panels and 220 hand drawn glass and Pyrex rods, the artist said to have been “inspired by the waterfalls dispersed among Utah’s canyon landscape.”  The sculpture cascades down the escalator well at the entrance to the new main terminal and makes use of the natural light this location receives from the terminal’s glass facade, casting an array of ever-changing colors and patterns on adjacent surfaces.

According to the press statement, the  installation took two men two weeks and a custom designed movable platform, referred to as the “donut”, to attach the glass panels and rods to the cables using specially-designed glass clamps.

The entire suspended sculpture weighs a staggering 5,000 pounds and is attached to the terminal ceiling with spring boots to help retain tension on the cables during winter when the roof can bend under the weight of up to four feet of snow.

“I’m all about inspiring the spirit of humanity by bringing beauty and meaning into this world through art,” said Huether.

The airport is scheduled to officially opens its door to the public on September 15th, 2020.

Feature image – Terminal The Canyon (blue-lilac) – Stuart Ruckman Photography.

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