The Salt Lake City Prudential Building

_{Above: Waiting area and teller counters in the Salt Lake City Prudential Building designed by William L. Pereira and opened in 1963. Photo: Julius Shulman / GettyArchives}

Not so much ‘cool’ in this ‘cool stuff’ I’m afraid.  Designed by noted architect William L. Pereira – whose works include the Transatlantic Tower in San Francisco and the Theme Building at LAX – the Salt Lake City Prudential Building was opened 1963. While many of us today bank online, 50 years ago a visitor to this bank probably would have appreciated the sunken garden, the huge and well-lit entrance atrium with skylights, and even the 100 life-size bronze sea gulls, by California artist Tom Van Sant, soaring up the front facade. Sadly, this building was torn down in 2014 to make way for a new performing arts center.  The only thing saved, mostly, were Van Sant’s bronze seagulls with 65 of them (35 went missing) sitting in cardboard boxes in the storage room of a nearby disused theater as they wait for a new location.

The Salt Lake City Prudential Building designed by William L. Pereira and opened in 1963, torn down in 2014.

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