With the proposed Sports, Entertainment, Culture, and Convention District around the Delta Center still pending, I want to share how thankful I am to everyone who participated in this critical process. Your feedback and engagement have been invaluable and will greatly impact our City. I also wanted to explain why I voted in favor of the proposed agreement between the City and Smith Entertainment Group.

While the state legislation that created the District set forth certain parameters and a much more abbreviated timeline than we would typically have for this sort of process, our negotiation efforts were exhaustive. City staff and elected officials pushed hard in every direction to secure the best possible deal for Salt Lakers in exchange for this public investment.

This agreement is about more than the Jazz or the new NHL team. This will be a monumental investment in the future of downtown, which will generate revenue for surrounding businesses, activate underutilized spaces, and help fund critical city services. It creates a new revenue stream for housing and other city needs. It helps address historical wrongs done to members of the Japanese American community and Japantown. And it preserves all options for connecting to Abravanel Hall, UMOCA, and the Salt Palace in our cultural core, depending on what the County decides to do with those venues.

I truly believe the proposed agreement we’ve reached is a good deal for Salt Lake City and secures a bright future for our downtown. I would not support it if I felt otherwise.

There’s a lot we still need to consider about the overall district, and there will be other votes and other decisions in the coming months. However, I am confident that we have done more than our due diligence to ensure this proposed agreement is a step in the right direction. We now look to our partners at the County and State to continue this momentum and connect the remaining puzzle pieces.

Best regards,

Council Member Chris Wharton