MHTN Architects 100th Anniversary

Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects has been designing impactful, community-centric projects for a century. With close to 100 employees and spectacular new downtown digs, the firm is optimistic about its future as it celebrates its Centennial Anniversary.


By Brad Fullmer

Through seven iterations of the firm and the various transitional leadership changes that organically occur over a century, Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects has survived and thrived as one of Utah's perennially top-ranked architecture firms, with ambitious goals for future success. 


As the firm celebrates its historic 100th Anniversary this year, its leaders are quick to express gratitude for the literally hundreds of people who have contributed to the firm's rich history of designing impactful, community-enhancing projects.

 

"One of the hallmarks of MHTN is transitioning leadership," said Peggy McDonough, President of the firm since 2010. "It's been key in mentoring (employees) over the years. We've gone over stories from the founders and through all iterations of the firm that eventually became MHTN—the stories are about people mentoring others and helping them progress." 


"The founders did a great job developing some of the core values of MHTN that you see today in our design excellence and client service," added CEO Chad Nielsen, who joined the firm in 1999 and was named CEO in 2014. "In the past decade we've made great strides in focusing on teamwork and empowerment of our people. Respect and environmental responsibility have changed over the years, as well. We have a broad and diverse set of project types and building types." 

100 Years of MHTN: Ashton, Montmorency Generational Leaders

MHTN Architects was originally founded as Ashton & Evans in 1923 by Raymond J. Ashton and Raymond L. Evans, two talented, driven architects who had roughly 25 combined years of experience between them when they merged forces. Ashton, who was eight years older, had gained experience working in Chicago from 1916-19 for various firms including Armour & Company, designing branch houses and residential projects. He returned to Salt Lake in 1919 and practiced architecture for four years before meeting Evans.


Evans was self-trained and started practicing at age 17, working for a handful of firms from 1912-18, including Cannon & Fetzer (1915-16) and the Villadsen Brothers in Salt Lake (1917-18; 1919-22). He also served in World War I for a year from June 1918-19. 


The firm quickly gained notoriety for its excellent comprehensive design expertise and ability to work on large projects, and gradually built upon its stellar reputation over the next 20+ years. Other key moments along MHTN's rich timeline: 


•  In 1946, Bernis Eugene (B.E.) Brazier joined the firm, making it Ashton, Evans & Brazier. Evans passed away in 1963 from complications due to multiple myeloma, but not before being honored as the second (Utah-based architect) recipient of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal Award for meritorious service and impact to the profession. The firm quickly pivoted by naming Fred Montmorency a partner that year (he had joined the firm in 1955) and dubbing itself Ashton, Brazier, Montmorency & Associates. 


Montmorency was a larger-than-life, alpha personality who is widely credited for taking what Ashton and Evans had built and expanding on it, making the firm even more diverse and influential. 


•  Ashton retired in 1970 at the age of 83, leaving behind a legacy spanning more than a half century. He was an active member of the American Institute of Architects, serving various roles including President of the AIA Utah chapter, as well as National AIA President for two years in 1944-45. 


•  In 1970, David Hayes and Elden Talbot joined the firm as Principals, while Brazier retired in 1971, leading the firm to be called Montmorency, Hayes & Talbot Architects (and renamed MHT Architects in 1980.


•  In 1993, MHT merged with Nelson, Johnson Partners and was formally renamed MHTN Architects, its title for three full decades now. Key leaders during this period included the Jones Brothers, Lynn and Bryce, who served as President/CEO from 1992-2004 and 2004-10, respectively. 


"The constant (through the years) is the level of service and the practice of design," said Nielsen. "The composition of MHTN today spans multiple generations. I think Peggy and I help to bridge the diversity of generations at MHTN, to continue that high level of service and practice of design." 


Influence of MHTN's early leaders ripples through to today. McDonough even crossed paths with Montmorency early in her career in 1993, when she worked at the firm on a temporary basis for four months. 


"Fred was gregarious," she said. "He got to know anybody who walked in the door. He was just a very friendly guy and always interested in what a person was doing, what they did. That's why he was so pivotal to the firm. He made sure he was making those connections." 


Talbot visited several times and "connected with us in a grandfatherly-type way" in recent years, McDonough said, sharing valuable insight from the past with current employees before his passing in December 2021.


Today, MHTN's 16 partners recognize it took many talented people—who modeled leadership and mentored skills—to make the firm what it is now moving beyond 100 years in continuous practice. 


Maintaining Consistency; Workload Balance a Priority


Another hallmark of MHTN over time is its ability to consistently perform at a high level and maintain consistency in the financial health and sustainability of the firm. In the past four years (2019-22), the firm has reported revenues of $21.4 million, $19.5 million, $21.6 million, and $27 million, the latter marking an all-time high. At nearly 100 employees the firm is at a good size, but is always looking to hire great talent as work is abundant across a spectrum of bustling markets in public and private sectors. 


The firm offers a full slate of design services including architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and master planning, along with ancillary services like programming, feasibility analyses, bond campaign support, and cost estimating. In-house studios include: Civic + Cultural; Commercial; Healthcare; Higher Education; K-12; Planning & Urban Design. 


In the last decade, McDonough and Nielsen said the firm's focus has shifted to practicing architecture more collaboratively vs. focusing on a specific market sector and taking projects from initial concept stages to final completion and performing every design function throughout the process. 


"Previously, the culture of the firm was market sector/business driven; ten years ago, we were just beginning to recognize the value of cross-collaboration between market sectors and design areas," said McDonough. "We decided the vision of the client was centric to how we practiced. It is quite intentional how we integrate and develop the culture of the firm for people honing a unified practice together."


The way the firm's top executives work on a day-to-day basis also changed in 2010 when the role of President and CEO was split between McDonough and longtime Principal Dennis Cecchini, who retired in 2014, a strategic decision made by outgoing President/CEO Bryce Jones, who felt it was important for the firm's top leaders to stay active in project design. 


"He said (President/CEO) was too much for one architect to do and try to practice," said McDonough, "and we agree that is the case. What we try to keep sacred is time as practitioners. Half our time is as a business executive, half our time is in client practice. We don't see how it could work any other way."



She continued, "As an architecture firm, the executive leadership [...] would not be credible to our clients if we were not practitioners. If we didn't show up on client projects, or be active in design, we would never be able to build that trust."

"Having a background in architecture helps inform (leaders) how the business is run," added Nielsen.


  • U of U Eccles Student Life Center

    U of U Eccles Student Life Center

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  • MHTN Studio Cafe

    MHTN Studio Cafe

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  • Pluralsight Global Headquarters

    Pluralsight Global Headquarters

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  • Emory Student Center

    Emory Student Center

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MHTN was part of the iconic Pluralsight Worldwide Headquarters in Draper. The 700-foot long building features 350,000 SF of office space, sloping from four to five stories.  The Emory Student Center in Atlanta showcases the design prowess and geographical reach of MHTN beyond its significant local impact within Utah. (photos courtesy MHTN Architects)


The George S. Eccles Student Life Center is a stunning example of MHTN’s designwork within Utah’s higher education market. This campus building at the University ofUtah multitasks as a center for student academic, recreational, and social life.  The studio café at MHTN’s new offices help its nearly 100 employees foster collaborationand connection in a less formal setting.

Sweet New HQ Designed to Foster Innovation, Collaboration


It's been more than three years since the pandemic forced firms to adjust their mode of operation, which continues to be a work in progress for many professional firms, regardless of industry. Working remote remains en vogue among any demographic younger than Gen X, with hybrid schedules becoming the norm. 


MHTN began the process of transitioning into a new headquarters right as the pandemic hit first quarter 2020—their lease at the IBM Building on South Temple came up at the end of March and they had decided to look for new space. 


They had known about an office in the Ford Motor Building in downtown Salt Lake that had been occupied by Union Pacific, a space with a mezzanine and a dynamic clerestory that offered exciting design options. The Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Utah) has its office in the same building, and McDonough remembers checking out the office when she served as chapter President in 2016.


"We'd go to that balcony, press our noses against the glass and say 'that is such a cool space!'," she recalled. "This clerestory was what we were looking at. It's a two-story space; we knew it had excellent potential. Collaboration is so important to us—we needed a place where people inhabit the same space and could run into each other [...] [fostering] unplanned meetings. It's not just coming to work, burying yourself in the office and never seeing the team."


Nielsen said the landlord was generous with tenant improvement allowances, allowing the firm to get as creative and it wanted. The new MHTN Studio is an immersive space for design exploration and collaboration. 


Staying true to the existing industrial palette of steel and brick, the space is open, light and airy. Maximizing the distribution of natural light throughout all spaces was a priority, honoring Albert Kahn's original design and transforming the former divided space into an open studio that features a long, tall clerestory, industrial proportioned windows, and a floor-to-floor height originally designed to maximize daylight for finishing touches of car assembly. 


Daylight—an essential component of better mood, energy, and productivity—reaches private and collaborative spaces throughout the office, from individual workspaces to project rooms, a fabrication lab, materials library, lounge deck, and cafe. Up to a dozen employees, including McDonough and Nielsen, participated in the design. Construction (by Layton Construction's ICS team) started in October 2020 and the firm moved in April 2021. The pandemic provided a bit fortuitous during the transition to the new office as the entire renovation happened in an unoccupied building, with the staff having shifted to remote work by April 2020. "You can't plan that sort of thing," Nielsen laughed. "It was a silver lining for us." 


The firm offers a hybrid schedule with up to two remote days per week, with leaders believing nothing is better than in-person collaboration, but understanding how workplaces are tilting. 


"I think it works well for everyone to have some time to be a little less accessible and focus on other items," said Nielsen. 

 

Future Outlook Bright


Both McDonough and Nielsen believe the firm is well-positioned for great future success, with a stellar team of Principals, Associate Principals, and Associates in place and acting on the forefront of technology and cutting-edge design trends.


Success will continue organically as the firm sticks to its long-time principles of design, service, innovation, putting clients first, and improving on project delivery methods.


"We've certainly been successful financially, but what I measure as success—in terms of true value—is the practice and the culture, and what we're leaving behind because architecture is a physical outcome," said McDonough. "(Design) impacts communities. It's not just that each building should be beautiful, each building becomes part of the community, and the community makes it their own. We know that happens which, in turn, helps us continue to elevate our design—that is our responsibility to society at large. It's making sure the buildings we're designing—the places we're creating for people—are connected, meaningful, responsible, and therefore beautiful."


As a signatory of the AIA 2030 Commitment, MHTN is dedicated to integrated action to reduce the impact of buildings on the planet. The firm has formed teams with a future-minded framework to research, understand, and implement how their buildings act: metrics, energy, performance, durability. 


"Part of the legacy we carry forward from the past is that MHTN is known for excellent design, quality documentation, project management, service and reliability—all foundational, solid traits," said McDonough. "This solid practice allows our studio to now launch toward aspirational goals of EUI targets, embedded resiliency, zero-carbon, and sustainable modeling so our practice evolves and acts responsibly for future generations."

A Legacy of Impactful Projects 


Historic Projects 

1926:  Reconstruction of Great Saltair Pavilion

1932:  VA Hospital (12th Avenue & E Street)

1936:  Centre Theater

1960:  Salt Lake International Airport

1964:  University of Utah Medical Center


Notable Projects Past 25 Years

MORE RECENT NOTABLE PROJECTS:

1997: Scott Matheson Court Complex

2003: Univ. of Arizona Memorial Center Student Union

2013: Univ. of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles Business Building

2015: Mount Jordan Middle School

2017: Logan High School

2018: Southern Utah Univ. Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business

2018: Univ. of Utah Carolyn & Kem C Gardner Commons

2018: Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Offices

2019: Utah Tech Univ. Human Performance Building

2019: Mountain Ridge High School

2020: Pluralsight Headquarters

2020: Department of Veteran Affairs South Jordan Clinic

2022: Utah State Univ. Moab Academic Building

2022:  Brighton High School

2023:  Millcreek City Hall (under construction) 

Black Desert Oasis

By Brad Fullmer • October 15, 2025
When Lehi-based Reef Capital Partners (Reef) initially announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling, estimated $2 billion mega-resort with a championship-caliber golf course on 600 acres covering parts of Ivins and Santa Clara—small towns with just over 15,000 combined residents at the time—it was difficult to fathom what a project of that magnitude might look like. Fast forward seven years, and Black Desert Resort is indeed a shining oasis amidst Southern Utah's famed red rock cliffs, sitting atop an ancient lava field, with buildings strategically carved into the land to produce a resort unlike anything else. "This is the biggest project we've ever done—we feel really good where we are," said Brett Boren, President of Real Estate for Reef, acknowledging the general completion of the $290 million, 806,000-SF resort center, along with significant ongoing work—including a 1,298-stall parking garage, condominiums, and a private water park. As of September, all aspects of the main resort center were open and fully complete, with the hotel celebrating its first official year in business after partially opening in September 2024 as it hosted the inaugural PGA Black Desert Championship October 10-13. The second installment of the tournament—now dubbed the Bank of Utah Championship—is slated for October 23-26, with a third tournament signed for 2026.

Calder Richards Celebrates 20 Years of Sustainable Evolution

By UC&D • October 1, 2025
In 2005, Calder Richards Consulting Engineers formed after the merger of two smaller structural consulting firms who, interestingly enough, both started in 1986. Calder Richards has provided a steady structural support for Utah’s built environment ever since. As the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, UC+D spoke with Managing Principals Shaun Packer and Nolan Balls to look back over the company’s history and celebrate what has helped their firm stand out to deliver solid projects in Utah and beyond. Their responses were edited for clarity and brevity. UC+D: What have been some catalytic moments for Calder Richards since that initial merger? SP: Winning the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is the first one. The big reason for the merger between Richards Consulting Group and Calder Consulting was to build a large enough company to go after bigger projects like that.” NB: That was my first project when I was hired straight out of college. We helped design the 17-story hotel and casino, a conference center, as well as parking structures, a central mechanical building, and a pool building. Talking Stick helped get us through the downturn a few years later. UC+D: What have been your key market sectors you all have targeted over the last 20 years? NB: We were breaking into K-12 along the Wasatch Front soon after the Talking Stick Resort and it’s been our bread and butter since then. SP: Absolutely, but I credit our firm for always adapting to the current environment. We’ve been fortunate to do so much K-12, but we used to do a lot of office work, and now we are working on conversions like the Ebay Headquarters to CTE/Innovation Center for Canyons School District as the market has shifted away from commercial office. UC+D: Schools have certainly evolved over the last 20 years, how has your work as structural engineers evolved? SP: We are seeing more creative design on the architectural side, certainly. We see many more two-story designs; more windows and daylighting. But we’re utilizing more powerful tools and continually building our understanding of the structural materials that are in use more than ever—tilt-up concrete, steel columns and beams, especially—to be the architect’s trusted partner. NB: Schools have definitely changed, and we’ve had better experience in helping projects move forward successfully when we are involved earlier in the design process. As we got involved early on in West High School’s schematic design, we were able to provide structural solutions and options to accommodate the architects’ design intent. UC+D: How has company growth changed Calder Richards? SP: It’s certainly changed the number of people in our office. We started with around 10 people when we merged, and today we have 27. But we often say that we don’t want to grow just to grow—we want to grow sustainably. We don’t lay people off when works slows down, and we have an expectation that sometimes there will be overtime work, and other times you may be waiting for our next project to begin.

The (Epi)Center of it All

By By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Nested in the middle of the University of Utah (U of U) campus sits the aptly-named Impact & Prosperity Epicenter, the second living learning community (LLC) project designed on campus by Los Angeles-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. After nearly a decade since their first LLC project, the award-winning Lassonde Studios (UC+D’s 2016 Most Outstanding Public Building over $10 million), Mehrdad Yazdani, the design firm’s Principal and Studio Director, said their work on a sequel was an exciting prospect for the firm, and enlisted Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects and Okland Construction to serve as the respective local architect and general contractor. Today, the Epicenter serves as a striking piece of architecture and construction, one whose curvilinear shape asks users and visitors plenty of questions. But moving from idea to execution has been a work in progress. One query from Yazdani stood out as it relates to students and the built environment, and helped begin the journey to create the Epicenter: “How does your living environment as a student impact your success as a student and as a changemaker?” A Project for an Evolving Campus Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute, said LLCs like the Epicenter and Lassonde Studios next door have been massive steps forward in advancing entrepreneurship and social impact. But both play a major role in creating “college town magic”—a phrase coined by University President Taylor Randall that invokes a vibrant campus where students can find community and have one-of-a-kind experiences. With more on-campus student housing in the works, the state’s flagship university is hoping to shed the “commuter school” label and deliver a level of desirability that matches the resources students commit to higher education. “There is some soul searching going on across university campuses,” said Macc of the challenge at hand. “We have to be convincing that going to college matters.” She said overall university enrollments across the nation are decreasing as students grapple with tuition costs, COVID and its isolating aftershocks, and a different perspective on higher education. Universities are no longer a place where students come to learn what they couldn’t learn elsewhere—remote learning and the internet have opened a fissure in that idea that will never close. Instead of that educational transaction, being at a university must include building community and creating in-person experiences only available on campus. Macc said that the Epicenter helps steer the campus experience toward the future, with design goals to create a base of operations for two changemaking organizations and a living and learning home for 778 students. The three-story commercial portion of the building, known as the “Changemaker Pavilion”, includes office space for The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity (second floor) and the Sorenson Impact Institute (third floor). While each organization has a different focus, both are firmly invested in helping students access and create the resources needed to change the world. Each entity works hand-in-hand as owners of the Epicenter to host events and “create a full spectrum of ways for students to get involved,” said Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer for the Sorenson Impact Institute. “We’re dialing in the programming to energize the student body,” said Salvadore of the work done at the Epicenter. With over 60 majors represented among the 778 students who live there, he said that the diversity of students is less a reflection of their chosen major and more a desire to reside in a space built for students to work their entrepreneurial muscles. “Living here is a mindset—you can engage across many different paths you choose.”

Goal!

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Front view of the bleachers, press box, and suites. (photos courtesy SIRQ Construction)

Four Decades of Transformation

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Over the course of its 40-year history in Utah, WSP's Salt Lake office—originally founded as Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1985—has morphed from primarily a transportation design firm to one that successfully operates in multiple civil engineering markets. The results of WSP's transformation the past decade into a more diverse outfit speak for themselves, with the 128-person Salt Lake office (with locations in Cottonwood Heights and South Jordan) posting three consecutive years of revenues over $50 million, including a record $70.1 million in 2023, and a robust $59.9 million in 2024—good for the No. 2 ranking in UC+D's 2025 Top Utah Engineering Firms rankings.

Good Career? Start Here

By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Lucio Gallegos vividly remembers the workforce development meetings he attended during his time at Ogden-Weber Tech. These career and technical education (CTE) discussions consistently focused on one thing: young people were not entering construction, and the industry needed a new approach to attract them. Gallegos recalled one member of the workforce development team, a training director with a prominent general contractor, saying, “We have been trying this for over 10 years, screw it, we’re just gonna hire them.” The Long Road Those conversations occurred nearly 10 years ago, and workforce development concerns continue to permeate the industry. The National Center for Construction Education & Research estimates that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031, leading to potential gaps in skill and safety and decreases in productivity and project quality. While stakeholders have aligned on the overall goal of providing students a foundation for future success through career development, the means to achieve the ends were seemingly at odds. High schools, trade schools, colleges, and private industry took different paths to achieve their goals, with some moving in opposite directions. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” Gallegos recalled one school administrator saying, “If I promote what you’re telling me to get them over to the tech college, I lose head count. And then I lose teachers. I can’t have a school without teachers.” Jobs that took away student learning experiences, according to federal guidelines and child labor laws, made the idea a non-starter. However, after years of lobbying the Utah Legislature for a compromise between industry and education, H.B. 055, passed in 2023, provided a catalytic change in how younger people can engage with construction and other industries. High school students could participate if they were involved in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program. Private industry finally had the compromise it wanted. It was time to act. Big-D Charts New Path Gallegos, now the Workforce Development Manager from Big-D, joined the company in 2023 with the express purpose of creating a program that fit within the new guidelines. Gallegos said he sees career development through the lens of the immigrant experience, one he knows personally as a Mexican immigrant with a father who worked in commercial construction. “I was 9 years old and busting pins out of concrete forms with a hammer that was as big as I was,” he laughed. “I’ve got the cliché immigrant story.” That story has a theme familiar to many immigrant families, he said, one where parents say, “I want my kids not to have to work as hard as I do. I want them in school.” Add to that, it’s a law—children must attend school. Gallegos was unfazed by those obstacles. As he began planning how Big-D’s internship program would operate, he knew that engagement had to start at the elementary school level and build on personal relationships between private industry, school administrators, students, and their families to succeed. “We want to be the solution, not the obstacle to get into this industry,” said Gallegos. So Big-D removed the barriers. Students can still attend school, work towards graduation, and be available in the afternoon for sports, extracurricular activities, and the high school experience. But working was another significant part of the immigrant experience, Gallegos said, and internships needed to be paid to alleviate the family concerns. “We asked what we would pay somebody fresh out of high school who worked at Big-D,” Gallegos said. Interns have earned those same wages ever since.

It's A Knockout

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
On January 2, 1957, Gene Fullmer, a scrappy, underdog fighter from West Jordan stunned the boxing world with a 15-round unanimous decision over the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden. Fullmer captured the world middleweight championship and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers during the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, the Fullmer name has been synonymous with boxing in Utah, with brothers Gene, Jay, and Don establishing the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in 1978, and offering free boxing instruction and life mentoring to thousands of youths—carrying on a tradition they learned from their trainer, Marv Jenson. Their legacy of community giving will live on in the new Fullmer Legacy Center in South Jordan, a 16,500-SF facility that will serve as a permanent home to the boxing gym—after years of bouncing around to various temporary facilities—along with a museum, snack bar, and gift shop. “The Fullmers are the first family of boxing in the state of Utah—that’s well understood,” said Dave Butterfield, a founding board member of the Fullmer Legacy Foundation. Butterfield served as Chairman of the Board from June 2016 to early 2025 and was influential in helping raise money—nearly $6 million via donations to date, which includes $2 million from the Utah Legislature. Project Driven by Vision to Find a Permanent Home for Fullmer Brothers Gym It was Jay Fullmer who led the charge to teach boxing in the community. By 1978, the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym had formally opened at the Butterfield farm chicken coop in South Jordan, recalled Larry Fullmer, Don’s oldest son and the man who spearheaded the efforts for the Fullmer Legacy Center. From there, Larry said the facility moved to Riverton Elementary, an old church house in West Jordan, a sugar factory, a former fire station, and the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan, where it had resided since 2011. When they got word that Salt Lake County planned to transfer ownership of the park to Utah State University, Fullmer knew they needed to find a long-term home for the boxing gym. Fullmer met with Butterfield and Robert Behunin—who at the time was a Vice President with Utah State University—in 2016 and told them he just wanted a “tin shed of our own” for boxing. Behunin countered by saying, “If you want people to donate money, you need something better than a tin shed!” They quickly formed the Fullmer Legacy Foundation (FLF), and by 2018, the wheels were in motion on a building. Doc Murdock, a long-time trainer at the gym, connected Larry with his former roommate at Brigham Young University, Vern Latham, who is a Principal at Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture. VCBO offered pro-bono services initially while helping FLF put together an RFP, while North Salt-based Gramoll Construction provided value engineering and other services in an effort to get the project launched. Larry expressed sheer gratitude for the contributions of both firms in helping make the project a reality, especially for many generous donations from various foundations and individuals. “[VCBO] believed in us early on and did our first phase of planning at no charge—they have been amazing and so professional to work with,” said Larry. “Gramoll helped us get the budget done as tight as it could be. This project had the absolute tightest budget. We met weekly with architects and the general contractor to see the progress—I’ve never seen such an amazing process. Construction started in November ’23, and every time I would come to the jobsite in the first six months, I’d get emotional.” “We leaned on our relationships with contractors for flooring, ceiling, tiles, donated furniture and got deep discounts and a lot of in-kind donations,” said Phil Haderlie, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO. “To me, the story of this project is the grassroots effort of people seeing the value—this is something that came from their heart. It will have a long-lasting impact on the community.”

Significant Buzz

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
The first season is in the books for the Salt Lake Bees in its spectacular new home—the Ballpark at America First Square, the exciting new heart of Downtown Daybreak and certainly one of the premier Triple-A stadiums in the country. "It's a really cool stadium—the field looks so good!" gushed Eric Barton, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, while surveying the spacious 280,000 SF, 6,500-seat (8,000 capacity) ballpark. Barton said his team faced an extremely difficult construction schedule with the mandate the project had to be sufficiently ready for Opening Day 2025 on April 8, less than 18 months after the formal October 20, 2023, groundbreaking. Barton said Okland knew it was going to be a grind, with long hours and tight windows to get various milestones accomplished. "When we bid this to our trade partners, we had them bid it with the expectation of it being six days a week," he said. "We want not only your best guys, but you have to be adaptable to the plan. It was gangbusters from the start.” Up to 300 workers were onsite during peak construction activity, requiring meticulous coordination throughout. Okland even brought in Fred Strasser, a legendary project director who came out of retirement to shepherd the project through. "Fred is the genius behind getting this whole thing done," said Barton. The project was designed by Salt Lake-based HOK, who worked closely with the owner, Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate (LHMRE) and Miller Sports + Entertainment (MSE) to bring about a project that would add even more buzz to its wildly popular, 4,000-acre master planned Daybreak development in South Jordan, making it a true entertainment destination. The design weaves together best-in-class baseball experiences with year-round public amenities, including a recently opened Megaplex theater, a performing arts center, a large amphitheater, along with retail, restaurants, and apartments, with buildout continuing through 2027. Walking paths and open spaces create natural connections between The Ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, making the area an iconic community asset and a true sports and entertainment district. Downtown Daybreak is slated to host more than 200 annual events—including the Bees’ 75-game regular season. Supporting this entertainment destination, the venue’s prominent location just off the Mountain View Corridor freeway makes it highly visible to passing traffic while providing easy access. The stadium is also connected to multiple transportation options, easily reached by walking, biking or light rail across the Wasatch Front, and by car from the new freeway corridor. The Ballpark site drops 20 feet from the loading dock to the plaza, managed through terraced spaces that echo the region’s mining heritage. Though the slope stays gentle at under 5%, carefully placed stairs and planters make walking comfortable while honoring the industrial past. The center field main entrance connects to light rail, while a formal plaza at home plate serves as a second entrance, primarily for VIP access. The street design follows Daybreak’s established standards for lighting and tree spacing. Bike racks at the light rail station and plaza make cycling to games convenient. Utah’s Landscape Shapes Design The Wasatch Mountains, visible from every angle of the ballpark, directly influenced the ballpark's design. Throughout the venue, carefully planned viewpoints frame these mountain vistas. The structure resembles this mountainous setting in its form, transitioning from solid brick and concrete at its base to lighter materials—metal and expansive glass—as it ascends. Working with Kansas City-based architectural metal fabricator Zahner, HOK and MSE created a distinctive facade using perforated metal panels that suggest Utah mountain peak silhouettes from Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County to Mt. Nebo, the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. These panels transform into a glowing display at night, serving as a lantern on The Ballpark’s ‘front porch’ and welcoming visitors. This connection to Utah’s landscape flows throughout the site. Angular planters guide visitors along pathways, while public spaces are arranged in terraces that echo the mountainside. The copper colors and stepped surfaces of the nearby Kennecott Mine inspired the ballpark’s materials and layout. Inside, the decor features warm copper, gold and honey tones, with textured materials that blend the natural landscape with the Salt Lake Bees’ team colors.

Firms Making Moves

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Horrocks CEO Bryan Foote (left) shakes hands with Matt Hirst, former President/CEO of CRS Engineering & Survey. Horrocks acquired CRS a year ago in a move that has proven to be a seamless fit for more than 60 CRS employees.

Q&A with Nathan Goodrich

By UC&D • August 1, 2025
Nathan Goodrich