The University of Utah Circle, also known as Presidents Circle, is located on the campus of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978 as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

History

In 1900 the University of Utah moved to the current east-bench campus on land that used to belong to

Fort Douglas Fort Douglas (initially called Camp Douglas) was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose was to protect the overland mail route and te ...

. The four original buildings, which are currently known as the John Widtsoe Building, the LeRoy Cowles Building, the Alfred Emery Building, and the James Talmage Building were built on what is now University of Utah circle. 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment The circle was the site of one of many pro-Palestinian encampments that occurred in response to the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

Buildings

The district is composed of the following eight

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

s, which are all named after former University of Utah Presidents and located along University Circle: * Alfred Emery Building (1901) - Designed by

Richard K.A. Kletting Richard Karl August Kletting (July 1, 1858 – September 25, 1943) was an influential architect in Utah. He designed many well-known buildings, including the Utah State Capitol, the Enos Wall Mansion (which now houses the Thomas S. Monson Center) ...

and named after former university president Alfred C. Emery in 1980. It was originally built to house the normal school. * John Widtsoe Building (1901) - Designed by Richard K.A. Kletting and named after former university president

John A. Widtsoe John Andreas Widtsoe (; January 31, 1872 – November 29, 1952) was a Norwegian-American scientist, author, and religious leader who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church ...

. * LeRoy Cowles Building (1901) - Designed by Richard K.A. Kletting and named after former university president LeRoy E. Cowles in 1980. It was originally constructed to house the library. It currently houses the mathematics department at the university. "Extended Vision", a series of etched and screenprinted plates depicting math theories created by artist

Anna Campbell Bliss Anna Campbell Bliss (July 10, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American visual artist and architect. Her trademark artwork blends color, lights, mathematics, movement, science and technology. A modernist artist, Bliss, who was a pioneer of early ...

, were installed in the building's lobby between 2001 and 2003. * James Talmage Building (1902) - Designed by Richard K.A. Kletting and named after the former professor and university president James E. Talmage in 1976. It was originally constructed as a museum. * Park Building (1914) - Designed by the architectural firm of

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

, Fetzer, Hansen. Originally named the "Central Building", it was renamed the "Park Building" in 1919 after former university president John R. Park . It currently houses the office of the president and other university administrators. *

Kingsbury Hall Kingsbury Hall is a center for the performing arts located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. History Kingsbury Hall was designed by Edward O. Anderson and Lorenzo Snow Young and built in 1930. It was named after Josep ...

(1930) - Designed by Anderson & Young and named after Joseph T. Kingsbury, former president of the university. Many of Utah's performing arts organizations started in Kingsbury Hall including

Ballet West Ballet West is an American ballet company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1963 as the Utah Civic Ballet by Willam F. Christensen, the company's first artistic director, and Glenn Walker Wallace, who served as its first president. ...

and

Utah Opera The Utah Opera is an American opera company that has been merged with Utah Symphony since July 2002, with a combined audience of more than 150,000 annually. History In 1978, the Utah Opera company presented its first production of Puccini's ''La ...

. * David P. Gardner Hall (1931) - Designed by

Ashton & Evans Ashton may refer to: Names *Ashton (given name) * Ashton (surname) Places Australia * Ashton, Elizabeth Bay, a heritage-listed house in Sydney, New South Wales * Ashton, South Australia Canada *Ashton, Ontario New Zealand *Ashton, New Zealand ...

. In 1980 it was named after former university president

David P. Gardner David Pierpont Gardner (March 24, 1933 – January 2, 2024) was an American university administrator, and professor who served as the 15th president of the University of California. He also served as president of the University of Utah. Biograph ...

. It was originally constructed to be the union building. Today it houses the school of music. A 1997 renovation added several areas to the building, including a concert hall named after Gardner's wife, Libby. * George Thomas Building (1935) - Designed by

and named after former university president George Thomas. It was originally built as the George Thomas Library. In 1968 when the library moved and became the

J. Willard Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...

the building became the home of the

Utah Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum of Utah is a museum located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The museum shows exhibits of natural history subjects, with an emphasis on Utah and the Intermountain West. The mission of the museum is to illuminat ...

. In 2011 the "Utah Museum of Natural History" moved to a new building and changed its name to "

Natural History Museum of Utah The Natural History Museum of Utah is a museum located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The museum shows exhibits of natural history subjects, with an emphasis on Utah and the Intermountain West. The mission of the museum is to illumina ...

". Since 2016, a program of works has been transforming the George Thomas Building in order to receive the new "Gary and Ann Crocker Science Center":University of Utah, official website, News,
University of Utah College of Science breaks ground on Crocker Science Center
, March 31, 2016.

Gallery

File:Original U of U library.jpg, The LeRoy Cowles Building, 1905 File:LeRoy Cowles Building UofU Nov 2010.jpg, LeRoy Cowles Building, November 2010 File:Kingsbury Hall.jpg,

, December 2005 File:Gardner Hall UofU Nov 2010.jpg, Gardner Hall, November 2010 File:Utah Museum of Natural History.jpeg, Thomas Building, August 2008 File:The Park Building at the University of Utah.jpg, Park Building, December 2009

References

External links

University of Utah historic buildings
{{Portal bar, Schools, United States, Utah, National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings completed in 1935 Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah Buildings and structures at the University of Utah National Register of Historic Places in Salt Lake City University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah 1935 establishments in Utah

History

Buildings

Gallery

See also

References

External links