August 6, 1999
If you've driven through downtown Salt Lake recently, you may have noticed a couple of new "structures."
Some huge tents have been set up across from the Salt Palace.
And, as Keith McCord tells us, they're pretty fancy!
They look like big tents. But, they're not really tents at all.
To be totally accurate, these are called "Clear Span Tent Stuctures!"
Andrew Soffe/Roder USA: "AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN IT'S COMPLETE AND SEALED UP, IT WILL BASICALLY BE A COMPLETE BUILDING."
These temporary buildings are needed to accomodate next week's Summer Outdoor Retailer Show.
Ron King/G.M., Salt Palace: "THIS IS OUR LARGEST RE-OCURRING CONVENTION THAT WE HAVE IN SALT LAKE CITY. THEY COME TWICE A YEAR."
Basically, the Outdoor Retailer Show has outgrown the space in the Salt Palace Convention Center. And that's the main reason that the convention center is expanding.
KING: "WE SAID 'WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO MAKE A LONG-TERM COMMITTMENT?' AND THEY SAID 'YOU NEED AT LEAST 100,000 ADDITIONAL SQUARE FEET OF EXHIBIT SPACE, SO THAT WE CAN LOOK AT YOU LONG TERM.'"
Until the expansion project is done, temporary structures like these are necessary.
Keith McCord, Eyewitness News: "UNDERNEATH, 132,000 SQUARE FEET--ABOUT THE SIZE OF FOUR FOOTBALL FIELDS."
And, they'll have everything: double French Doors, huge generators will provide air conditioning; there will be wall to wall-- er, canvass to canvass-- carpeting. Workers will string miles of cable for internet computer access.
SOFFE: "WE'RE VERY FORTUNATE IN THE SENSE THAT BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A GOOD TEAM, AND A GREAT GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE ALL WORKED TOGETHER BEFORE, IT MAKES IT A LOT EASIER."
The Outdoor Retailers are spending about a half-million dollars to use these two structures. That's a lot of money, when you consider that the show lasts for only four days!
But, with more than 15,000 store owners here buying millions of dollars worth of equipment to sell in their stores, it's worth it!
"IT'S A FANTASTIC EVENT AND A MAJOR UNDERTAKING."
And remember, what goes up, must come down. It'll take more than two weeks to disassemble all this and haul it to the next convention site, where workers will put it all back up again!
The Summer Outdoor Retailer Show opens next Thursday and runs through Sunday.
A lot of work for a four-day event. But for the city, it means $30- to $40-million.
