TEAMWORK ELEVATED

The success of the remarkable 25-story 95 State at City Creek high-rise is a testament to the dynamic collaborative effort of the entire project team.
By Brad Fullmer

Already a highly ambitious and supremely technical project from a construction standpoint, Salt Lake City’s latest office tower—the ultra-sexy, 25-story 95 State at City Creek—became even more challenging when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, forcing executives from Salt Lake-based general contractor Okland Construction to institute strict protocols to ensure worker safety. 

And it was no small feat, with peak worker capacity hovering near 600 at one point. According to Zach Lewis, Project Director for Okland, every subcontractor on the job answered the bell, resulting in the project nary missing a beat and remaining firmly on schedule. Lewis expressed profound gratitude at how everyone rallied together and the collective “beehive” mentality that existed during a demanding time.

“We were in the height of building this project when Covid hit—every day I was amazed and proud and humbled by people who showed up and did their job,” said Lewis. “We were serious about mask-wearing. We got to a point where we could walk through, and everyone was wearing a mask. I take my hat off to the men and women who showed up every day and made it possible.”

Mike Jueschke, Okland’s Sr. Project Manager, echoed Lewis’ sentiments. 

“I was amazed not only by workers showing up but hanging heavy steel with a mask on—not an easy task,” he said. “For a good portion of [hanging steel], we didn’t have elevators. Hiking stairs in a mask, glasses fogging up […] it was a frustration for the workforce, but they complied. We had people thanking us that we were enforcing it so rigidly so they could keep working.”

Jueschke said when it came to pouring concrete, “You can’t ‘social distance,’ so we reduced the workforce as much as possible […] and re-sequenced the direction we placed concrete to not jam people into corners.”

The stylish lobby space is highlighted by a high-end Italian white marble, rich wood ceiling panels,
and a giant digital video display (photo courtesy SOM © Dave Burk).

A Project Like No Other

There are many one-of-a-kind superlatives on owner City Creek Reserve Inc.’s (CCRI) second major office tower that graces Utah’s capital city—24-story 111 Main was completed in 2016—including a dynamic, highly complex structural system, the visually stunning and highly functional all-glass curtain wall system, the exquisite white Italian marble in the main lobby, and the fact that the building includes two chapels that serve a dozen wards (congregations) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

There are many one-of-a-kind superlatives to describe owner City Creek Reserve Inc.’s (CCRI) second major office tower—the 24-story 111 Main was completed in 2016—that graces Utah’s capital city. Start with 95 State's dynamic, highly complex structural system, the visually stunning and highly functional all-glass curtain wall system, the exquisite white Italian marble in the main lobby, and the fact that the building includes two chapels that serve a dozen local congregations for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to name a few. 

Designed by San Francisco-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—the same architect as 111 Main—95 State at City Creek is the second phase of a multi-phase development that ties into the adjacent Harmons grocery store and parking garage that came online in 2011. A single-level basement houses mechanical equipment and parking, with the two chapels occupying the second through fourth floors. A posh fitness center and three spacious conference rooms comprise the fifth floor, which opens onto an adjacent roof garden terrace. 

Beyond commercial office space and the chapels, the project includes the Social Hall Pavilion and an underground tunnel that links the tower directly to City Creek Center mall west of State Street. The pavilion is a glass-enclosed redevelopment of the former Social Hall Museum building with 1,850 SF of retail space. 

SOM had up to 10 architects working on this project at one time, led by Steve Sobel, Managing Principal; Michael Duncan, Design Partner; and Sean Ragasa, Design Principal. Each said having prior experience with the client on 111 Main helped streamline the process, even though the two buildings have little in common other than their respective “wow” factor. 

“We’ve done a number of projects with City Creek Reserve—the relationship goes back to work we did on the same site for the Harmons grocery store,” said Duncan, adding that SOM also did master planning on Block 75 and 76 (City Creek Mall and both sides of Main Street). “Those relationships have been positive. For a project of this scale, to have those open lines of communication and being creative together helps the success of the project.”

Jueschke echoed SOM, saying, “There was great mutual trust.”

“Our relationship with CCRI on 111 Main grew a great sense of trust between us,” added Ragasa. “It required us to be on the same page and completely aligned. We knew the same level of quality could be achieved, and that we could trust [CCRI Construction Manager] Sean Tuite to make sure this building came together the way we designed it.” 

“We had to design a building as significant [as 111 Main], but different,” said Sobel. “We talked about the imagery of the building […] and how it captured the mountains behind it. It’s a different type of glazing in terms of color. The curved glass [four giant curved panels create the corners] is one aspect as the building curves on the east and west façades to capture views in a 360-degree manner—they are quite spectacular. The ‘wow’ factor is the overall composition and beautiful form that sit nicely in the city scale.” He also praised the craftsmanship and detail of the glass curtain wall system, which offers “sensational” public spaces in the lobby area. 

Including two full-sized chapels make 95 State one of the most unique buildings ever designed—not only in Salt Lake but anywhere in the world. Designers were careful to make the office ecclesiastical elements different, yet symmetrical enough to look seamless in their respective aesthetics. 

“The idea of contrasting commercial office space with ecclesiastical space was exciting,” said Duncan.

“We didn’t want the ecclesiastical portion to feel too rigid,” added Ragasa. “One of the things we used to distinguish the meetinghouse was the use of art glass on the north end. We came up with a cast glass pattern that varies in colors [pink and orange, blue and green], where sunlight creates great light and projects onto the street. It’s one of our favorite aspects of the building.”

Designers also prioritized sustainability, utilizing LEED and WELL Building Standard criteria to embrace sustainability from individual tenant health (WELL) to 95 State’s context in the greater built environment (LEED). The project is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification.


  • Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button

  • Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button

  • Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button

An ecclesiastical element—two full-size chapels and meeting rooms in the first four floors—is one of the more unique aspects of the project and serves a dozen local congregations (aerial photo courtesy Endeavour Architectural Photography). Copious amounts of natural daylighting is a staple throughout the all-glass building (photo courtesy SOM © Dave Burk)

Complex Structural System Designed 

for Optimum Seismic Resistance 

With the 392-foot-tall building (currently the third tallest in Salt Lake City) located within 1.5 miles of the Wasatch Fault, SOM’s structural engineering team utilized state-of-the-art, performance-based seismic design modeling/standards to ensure optimum response in the event of a major seismic event. 

According to Peter Lee, Associate Principal with SOM, a linear and non-linear analysis was done on the maximum considered earthquake—7.5 magnitude. It was based on 21 different earthquake models, with the final model taking more than a month to compute.

“We’re looking at it on worst-case scenarios using the most advanced methods of our time to model and design it,” said Lee. “The building became much better in terms of performance and efficiency than a building designed to [standard] code. It’s a different challenge with a slender site.”

The tower’s superstructure is highlighted with reinforced concrete core walls, which have a lateral seismic-force-resisting system that consists of special ductile reinforced concrete core shear walls. Combined with the coupling beam construction extending from a pile and pile cap-supported deep foundation system to the penthouse roof at Level 26, there is a lot of excellent structural engineering to appreciate. 

The slender core wall depth running east-west is just over 33 feet, with core shear walls ranging from 24- to 30-inch thick with concrete compressive strengths of 8,000 psi. The shear wall core is interconnected with ductile reinforced coupling beams at doorway and corridor openings. 

Lee said the foundation includes an 11-foot deep matte foundation that sits on 363 24-inch diameter auger cast-in-place displacement piles drilled 110 feet into the ground. Huge outrigger grade beams help with transverse direction support that engage the core with perimeter columns at the basement level. 

“The reason the building is on a deeper pile foundation is so that it can support the loads,” said Lee. “It’s a very reliable structural system for Salt Lake.” 

“We had to tie the building down and include tension and compression piles,” said Tuite. “Because we have a thin building, we had to oversize the piles by three times. This is one of the most leading-edge seismic-resistant buildings in the world. In a seismic event, the top catwalk is designed to move over six feet and reset. There is more steel in the ground than in the building. Piles and pile caps have almost 50% more tonnage than the building.”

Tuite added that the introduction of the meetinghouse element required a higher code compliance level.

“It’s kind of ironic that if you have a public assembly space of over 300 [people], it actually pushes [the building] to a higher code criteria than having 3,000 office workers,” said Tuite. 

The building includes 5,700 tons of steel, which includes a 1,900-ton hat roof truss system. On level five, the cantilever levels hang over an adjacent structure, rising 19 floors to the top of the building. The hat truss system carries the weight of the entire structure and cantilevers over the building’s four sides. 


High Performance Glass/Curtain Wall System

The smoky-colored, all-glass curtain wall system is not only aesthetically pleasing but structurally resilient. 

Exterior curtain wall systems had several interesting components, including a four-ply curved, laminated glass system that spans from the lobby floor to the underside of level three. Panels are 10 feet by 28 feet with no perpendicular mullions—a stark contrast to 111 Main, which also has an equally high glass lobby but is backed by vertical glass mullions. 

“On this building, we were able to take advantage of the curved wall system and have the structural glass support itself,” said Lee. He said SOM collaborated with some of the best firms in the glazing and curtain wall, including Salt Lake-based subcontractor/installer Steel Encounters and structural façade engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan of New York City. 

Tuite said the glass curtain wall system was designed to incorporate maximum deflection without any loss of glass.

“As a long-hold owner, we do things like that,” said Tuite. “This building theoretically can deflect five to six feet and not lose any glass.”

Installation required a yeoman-like effort from crews from Steel Encounters, said Project Manager Chad Johnson, a 27-year veteran of the industry. 

“It’s just a huge accomplishment for the whole team,” said Johnson. “The uniqueness of the tower itself, with it being rounded corners all the way up makes it an amazing building. We had a lot of challenges, mainly just racing time. We dealt with Covid and still maintained our schedule. The field team did a phenomenal job dealing with what was in front of them. They were on the front lines, just trying to maintain the schedule. We had no time off and had to adjust on the fly with new protocols and procedures.”

The sheer size of the individual glass panels also was a major challenge for the firm. Johnson said the fact that the panels had vertical fin support was unique, and the first time has team has performed it in Utah. Each piece ranged from 4,000 lbs. to 7,800 lbs. with the heaviest pieces being the rounded corner panels on the lobby level. A special glass suction cup system designed by German-based Heavydrive included more than 100 cups to lift each panel via a hydro-crane. Johnson said his firm learned from its experience on 111 Main that a tower crane has too much bounce in the cable. 

“The building has some of the largest freestanding glass panels that we’ve used on any project in the world,” added Duncan. “The detail is very impressive.”


Lobby Highlighted by Italian White Marble 

One of the core design elements is the sleek white marble, supplied by Italian supplier and manufacturer Campolonhi from its Carrara quarry. Because of the pandemic, much of the stone selection occurred via video conferencing. Once the material was selected, a small team traveled to Italy to procure the stone. The design team used high-resolution photos to map the stone on 3D renderings with 2D elevations, creating a “virtual dry lay” of the walls and a set of rules of placement to guide the supplier. 

The final installation result had an unparalleled level of craftsmanship that belies the almost entirely virtual process. 

Jueschke said six large marble blocks were used with a tremendous final yield. Crews from Salt Lake-based Kepco+ had to perform almost perfectly, with the final result a testament to the firm’s skill and expertise. Kepco+ achieved 1/32 of an inch or better tolerances, a remarkable feat of precision. 

“There was no replacement piece if a piece was cut wrong or broken,” said Jueschke. “We had a whole set of protections in place with the handling and the installation, to the point that we were babying the stone. We got a big win with Kepco’s work.” 

The lobby also features a long, integral video screen that acts as an art piece, something that is dynamic and ever-changing. Duncan said “it extends the character of the lobby and makes the space a lot more active. Its movements work well with the curvature of the stone.”


The curved glass curtain wall system is one of the most distinctive, visual elements of the new high-rise and sets it apart from other buildings in downtown Salt Lake (photos courtesy SOM © Dave Burk)

Overall Teamwork Key to Successful Project

Compliments among the key players were effusive. Lewis praised Tuite for his expertise and ability to navigate tricky situations. 

“Sean is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” he said. “He understands construction, understands motivation, finance, and quality. I learned early on that taking his cues was beneficial. If he thought something was an issue, every time he was right. At the end of the job, I felt like we had a great relationship with Sean and CCRI.”

Jueschke also praised the design team for its efforts to design a building with a high level of constructability. The prior relationships developed on 111 Main made it seem like an extension of that project. 

“It was extremely beneficial having those relationships,” he said. “SOM is a fantastic architect and engineer. Having that behind us was beneficial to hitting the ground running and continuing those relationships. It’s no secret that there is a ‘grinding of gears’ between entities on a project of this magnitude, but we had those prior relationships to fall back on. Knowing what their design intent is was important—it’s not something you can communicate through documents. We all had expectations.” 

Sobel added, “It was a very collaborative process with the client and Okland, and that made for a great project. The best projects are the ones that everyone enjoys. In the end, everyone is super excited that we delivered what we hand in our mind’s eye from the beginning.” 



95 State at City Creek

Owner: City Creek Reserve, Inc.

Owner’s Rep: Sean Tuite

Developer: City Creek Reserve, Inc.


Size

Site Area: 32,085 SF

Project Area: 585,900 SF

Building Height: 395 ft.

Stories: 25


Design Team/Consultants

Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Civil Engineer: Great Basin Engineering

Electrical Engineer: Syska Hennessy Group

Mechanical Engineer: Syska Hennessy Group

Structural Engineer: Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill

Geotechnical Engineer: Consolidated Engineering Laboratories

Landscape Design: MGB+A

Parking: International Parking Design

Fire Protection: Jensen Hughes

Lighting Design: Luma 

Door Hardware: Allegion

Vertical Transportation: EWCG

Wind: RWDI

Acoustics/AV/Security: Shen Milson & Wilke

MEP/Sustainability/Energy Modeling: Syska Hennessy Group

LEED/WELL Consultants: Zinner Consultants 


Construction Team

General Contractor: Okland Construction

Concrete: Okland Construction

Concrete Reinforcement: Harris Rebar 

Plumbing: Archer Mechanical

HVAC: Archer Mechanical; B2Air

Electrical: Hunt Electric

Masonry: IMS Masonry, Kepco+, RJ Masonry

Drywall/Acoustics: CSI Drywall, Inc.

Painting: Grow Painting

Tile/Stone: IMS Masonry; Kepco+; RJ Masonry, Metro

Carpentry: Boswell Wasatch

Flooring: Spectra, Kepco+

Roofing: Utah Tile & Roofing

Glass/Curtain Wall: Steel Encounters, Inc.

Waterproofing: Waterproofing West

Steel Fabrication & Erection: SME Steel

Excavation & Demolition: Jones Excavating

Landscaping: Intermountain Plantings

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