SALT LAKE CITY — Like a phoenix rising from the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, the rebirth of the Delta Center became official Thursday as crews worked to affix new signage to the arena.
The highly-anticipated return of the Delta Center name was announced in January, but it wasn't until earlier this month when the old Vivint Arena signage was removed to make room for the logo that Jazz fans have been waiting to see.
“My family has called it the Delta Center for the last 30 years, even when it wasn't the Delta Center,” said Han Calder, who said he grew up watching John Stockton and Deron Williams play in the 1990s.
Jazz fan and President of the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance Dee Brewer said the name reminds him of the Jazz’s NBA finals appearances in 1997 and 1998.
“Man, the whole city was alive and there was a huge screen out front there. And those are really fond memories of heady days for the Jazz,” said Brewer.
Brewer said ‘Delta’ is fitting for the arena, since the airline has an immense economic impact on Utah.
“The impact of Delta's hub here cannot be overstated,” said Brewer.
Brewer said visitors, or those who don’t work or live downtown, make up 61% of the people downtown on a given day. Many of them fly in from out of state through the Salt Lake City Airport.
Those visitors, he said, oftentimes make a pit stop at the arena.
“We, we looked at the top visitation days last year for downtown,” said Brewer, “What drove visitation and 74% of those top days had events at the Delta Center. So it's jazz games, it's Justin Bieber, it's Disney on Ice.”
Delta Center signs will be placed on the northeast side of the arena Thursday, while the southeast installation will occur Friday.
The return of the Delta Center name coincides with the 50th anniversary season of the Utah Jazz. The airline previously held naming rights to the arena, but gave them up in 2006.
