D E B AT E
Pantages Theatre Preserving theatrical history By Cathy McKitrick
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ALT LAKE CITY—In mid-March, the future of the Utah Pantages Theatre hung by a thread as supporters fought in court to stop developers from demolishing the once-glamorous century-old structure on Main Street. On March 8, Third District Court Judge Robert Faust denied Friends of the Utah Pantages Cinematic Theatre’s request for a temporary restraining order that would block the wrecking ball’s blows while their case gets fully litigated. But with that denial, Faust granted Friends the chance to amend and strengthen their request. The nonprofit Friends—which formed last June – includes case plaintiffs Michael Patton, Derek Bleazard, Casey McDonough and Ibrahima Fall, who filed their initial complaint in February against Salt Lake City Corporation and its Redevelopment Agency – a municipal board made up of Mayor Erin Mendenhall and city council members.
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Patton, a self-described filmmaker and activist, said they planned to revise their request, add more defendants, and resubmit to the court as soon as possible. “I found out about the theatre about 10 years ago when the city first bought it, and I was excited they were going to restore it,” Patton said. “But then in 2019, we found out about this new deal to destroy it.” Since then, he’s been spearheading the effort to save and restore the Pantages theatre, which he considers both historically and culturally significant. McDonough, an architect, worked to help establish the theatre’s eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, an action that the State Historic Preservation Office had recommended the Redevelopment Agency pursue in 2019, according to court documents. On November 4, 2021, Salt Lake City’s Historic Landmark Commission unanimously approved making that recommendation of eligibility to the
