Posters advertising “The Animal Kingdom” starring Ann Harding and Edward G. Robinson in “Silver Dollar” adorn the Tower Theater — then called “Tower Talkies” — in 1932. The Salt Lake Film Society has taken preliminary steps in a major renovation of the landmark. (Photo from Cinema Treasures)
The historic Tower Theater sits vacant in Salt Lake City’s busy 9th & 9th neighborhood on a recent Sunday evening. The very preliminary steps of a major restoration project have been taken with the Salt Lake Film Society’s submission of drawings to city planners. (John Rogers, Salt Lake Business Journal)
The plans are preliminary — in fact they represent “a very early step in a long process” — but the undertaking of restoring Salt Lake City’s historic Tower Theater has begun.
The Salt Lake Film Society, the nonprofit that owns the Tower — perhaps the oldest movie house still standing in Utah — has submitted preliminary concept drawings to Salt Lake City Building Services for a rebuild of the structure and the restoration of cinematic experiences for Salt Lakers that goes back nearly a century. The plans, produced by Salt Lake City’s Prescott Muir architectural firm, show reconstruction of the main auditorium and part of the exterior in character with the building as it appeared in January 1928, when it opened to a capacity crowd of 380 with a showing of Phyllis Haver starring in “The Wise Wife.” The silent film was accompanied by the theater’s original Kilgen organ.
The concepts submitted by the society earlier this month also include a smaller second-floor auditorium and screening rooms — called “microcinemas” by the society — in the basement, as well as an elevator. Modern restroom upgrades are also planned.
Intended to reflect an image of the Tower of London, the theater’s original castle-like façade will be at least partially restored, according to the submitted documents. The plans say that the east tower of the original construction remains beneath the current façade that covered original rockwork during a 1950 remodel.
The other tower, which was on the west side of the building, was razed in the 1950s remodel. Plans call for it to be “digitally recreated” mimicking the east tower. Then “cinematic projections can cast onto the ‘ghost’ tower at night.”
The marquee will be rebuilt, according to the plans, and the wall above it will be clad in the 1950s terracotta tile. “The overall effect is intended to illuminate the Tower’s history rather than further conceal it behind ever more contemporary designs.”
The facility will be partially powered by solar panels on the roof to show a commitment “to energy efficiency and sustainable building practices.” In its statement, the society said it has already received a “significant” donation toward the financing of the solar installation.
“The drawings submitted are an early phase of the journey,” Tori Baker, executive director of the film society, said in a release. “They are not final designs, but rather the beginning of a conversation about how we preserve and prepare the Tower for generations to come.”
The Tower Theater was a Salt Lake gathering spot for cinephiles from its opening in 1928 — including a run as a host site for the Sundance Film Festival — until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its closing in March 2020 when the Salt Lake Film
Society also closed its six-screen Broadway Centre Cinemas in downtown Salt Lake City. The Broadway reopened in October 2021, but the Tower has remained closed since that time. Tower programming continues currently at the Broadway.
In its effort to “maintain the Tower’s presence in the neighborhood,” the film society has seen to the upkeep of the building’s exterior and surrounding property through the closure.
The film society announced the renovation effort in 2023 under the banner “Tower Theater: The Next 100 Years.” The society had recently bought the theater, which it had previously rented for many years. Businesses and philanthropists interested in supporting the renovation effort can contact the Salt Lake Film Society at info@saltlakefilmsociety.org.
On its website, the film society explains its ambitious restoration project.
“When completed, the Tower will serve as a community-based, mission-driven anchor for the 9th & 9th neighborhood,” the explanation states. “This treasured movie house will be Utah’s cinematic museum, trailblazing environmental responsibility and serving the community through historic, contemporary and unique technological film screenings, director/actor Q&As, cultural/environmental films, panel discussions and SLFS’ curated programming. It will include museum exhibits that celebrate cinema’s history while inspiring the future of the medium.”
In the meantime, the SLFS wishes it could just do some patching and continue its programming, but “[building assessments] revealed significant structural and systems challenges, including roof truss reinforcement, electrical and HVAC upgrades and accessibility improvements” that need to be addressed. “Patching these without a full plan would compromise long-term safety, sustainability and preservation goals,” the society said.
A timeline for the beginning of renovation — or a projected reopening — has not been set. That mostly depends on the success of SLFS’s fundraising efforts, but Baker has expressed a desire to see a grand opening celebration during the Tower’s 100-year anniversary in 2028.