By SARA UTLE
Exhibits, receptions and fireworks marked the grand opening of the new Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake last week.
Festivities began Wednesday night in the building's 36,000 square foot ballroom with a dance and award ceremony celebrating Utah's centennial, said Rip Rippetoe, general manager of the Salt Palace.
The ballroom is just one of the features the new building offers conventioneers, said Jeri Cartwright, president of communications for the Salt Lake Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
The building also provides 51 meeting rooms and 256,000 square feet of exhibit space. It has received bookings as far in advance as the year 2002 and will serve as the international media center for the 2002 Winter Olympics, Cartwright said.
A six-story glass and steel tower serves as a landmark for the area.
The new building is a marked improvement on the old one, said Cartwright. The old Salt Palace made poor use of space layout, she said.
'They are the same size overall, but the difference is the quality of the space,' Cartwright said.
She said that the arena in the old building did not work well for conventions and made the Salt Palace more of a civic center than a convention center.
Cartwright said the new Salt Palace will bring 205,000 people and $180 million in revenue to Utah this year. Revenue generated by all the bookings from now until 2002 already total $568 million, Cartwright said, and have already paid for the building seven times.
Gov. Leavitt took part in the building's ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday and President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offered a dedicatory prayer.
Visitors were then free to explore the new building and its exhibits. Displays provided information about many of Utah's attractions, from the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City to the State Fair in Logan, Rippetoe said.
Michelle Beaver, head trainer for Tracy Aviary, ran one of the booths at the exhibit. Nezhone, the 16-pound Golden Eagle perched on Beaver's arm, drew more curiosity than did the building itself.
'The opening events were a tremendous success,' he said. 'Quite frankly, we don't think it could have been better.'
The Palace's opening events also included live bands, food booths, a magic show, fireworks and laser shows. The fireworks coincided with the end of the Jazz game Thursday night