SALT LAKE CITY — Pieces of Utah's past are stored in the basement of the Rio Grande Train Station in Salt Lake City.
The Utah Divisions of History and Art have amassed a combined total of 1.8 million items of cultural and historical significance. The carefully curated collection fills the basement of the old station where the Utah State Historical Society has a research center on the main floor.
The public has never had access to the basement, and following the earthquake which struck Salt Lake City in March, the entire building is now closed for repairs.
In an effort to share a bit of Utah history, FOX 13 teamed up with the Utah Divisions of History and Art. Experts with those organizations will be showing us some of their favorite pieces from the permanent collection. We’ll be showing one each day from the 4th of July through the 24th of July.
Friday's item is a large sculpture with ties to the Utah State Capitol Building. In 1980, a storm blew copper panels off of the building’s dome. Rather than discard them, a contest was devised for artists to make something with the copper pieces. Among the three artists who won was Thomas Shulte, who created “Tacoral.” The sculpture is roughly 10 feet tall. Upon its completion it hung inside the capitol building for many years. It’s currently in storage.
The Utah Divisions of History and Art hope to someday have a museum on the grounds of the the Utah State Capitol Building which will allow them to better share items like “Tacoral” with the public.
Watch FOX 13’s Good Day Utah in the 8 a.m. hour each day for the next item or visit fox13now.com as new installments will be posted each day until July 24th.
