Random Rambler: The Former Site of the 49th Street Galleria

The 49th Street Galleria, later renamed to The Utah Fun Dome was an iconic building in Murray Utah. It was like a mini amusement park that featured skating, bowling, arcades, and other things. I spent a lot of time here as a kid, and a young teenager. This post I will attempt to dig into the history as much as I can.

I was exploring the bottom of Little Cottonwood Creek and I had planned a loop around this old site while I was at it and well, this kind of became a bit more than I expected it to be so I decided to make it it’s own article.

The 49th Street Galleria opened in 1983. The name was changed sometime in the 90’s I believe (having trouble nailing down exactly when). There was a gang related shooting in 2003 that appeared to contribute to it's final closure in 2005. The building was occupied by a few other businesses and the iconic glass towers were demolished in 2014. The building was finally fully demolished in 2023. It is zoned for mixed use but no plans have been submitted for the property just yet.

Quick Details:

Length: You can just drive by and see the empty lot. Or, you can do a short 8/10ths of a mile loop around the property. Or a 1.3 mile balloon from Arrowhead Park.
Trail Type: Get out and see, loop, or balloon options.
Difficulty: Get out and see DR1. Loop is paved DR2.
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: no. There is one in Arrowhead Park.
Dogs? Dogs are allowed on city sidewalks. Please clean up after your furry friends.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

It is approximately 4998 South Galleria Drive. Park anywhere you can legally and safely around it to do a loop. Or you can do what I did and park at nearby Arrowhead Park and do a 1.3 mile balloon.

The Trail:

After going back and fourth as to whether this should be a separate article or included with my previous post, I finally landed on separating it. So, here is as far east you can follow Little Cottonwood Creek from the Jordan River before you hit a wall (i15). I decided this is where I would split off.

We can see the top of the mountains peeking up above i15 here.

Eventually I hit a grassy area. You can stay on the road to the left if you want. Right now there are not a lot of cars on it, but that will likely change whenever the property is finally developed.

Eventually we hit this sign, which is the last standing remnant of what was once the 49th Street Galleria (I'm an 80's kid, it was never the Utah Fun Dome in my mind and heart). Another one of my more childhood than teenage haunts but still a place I used to go. This is yet another amazing icon that the city should not have allowed to be destroyed, but did. It breaks my heart.

I went through the history of Google maps and found this iconic building went through a few more iterations than I remember. I remember the original 49th Street Galleria, then the Utah Fun Dome, and then some stupid college (I’m just butthurt the college killed it, it’s probably not stupid). Anyway....

Going in reverse order:

2024 matches what I saw today, Valor Preparatory Academy, but the property has been left to rot at this point. I am a little unclear if the school still owns it, or if a new developer owns it at this point, but I am leaning towards the latter.

I don’t remember this particular iteration. My brain probably just went oh yeah, it’s a school now and left it at that.

2022 it was still Valor, but they appear to still be maintaining the property at this point.

2018 it was AISU. This I remember.

2011 it was bank owned.

2007 it was the Salt Lake Pavilion. I don’t remember this particular iteration either. I think this is when it became kind of a mixed use mall type thingy? I don't know for sure.

Okay, that was as far back as google maps goes.

Then a random image from a SLC nostalgia post I stumbled upon recently.

It says 1983 -2005, while technically correct as in when the building was built, it did not become the Fun Dome until the 90's.

Lets take some looks at the building again going through google maps history.

Going forward this time… Here is the building in 2007 with it’s iconic towers.

2011 when it was bank owned.

2018 after AISU removed the iconic towers. I think that is why I was so butthurt at them. They completely destroyed the iconic building doing that. I did find an old article saying that happened in March of 2014. I still can't believe they were allowed to do that.

2022 when Valor Preparatory Academy was still occupying the area.

2024, the building is gone completely.

I mean, it was forever ruined when AISU removed the iconic towers in 2014, but I am still sad to see the building is now completely gone. I think Murray City really let us down with this one.

Completely random and odd fact. The Music Video for 80’s icon Tiffany’s cover of I think We’re Alone now was filmed in The 49th Street Galleria, Fashion Place Mall, Cross Roads Mall, and Ogden Mall (plus Bull Ringer Center in the UK). As far as I can tell she has no ties to Utah, so I am not sure why the 4 Utah malls were used in the video. Of all of the malls in the video, the only one still standing is Fashion Place Mall. Which is kind a a sad thought.

Malls in the 80’s all looked pretty much the same so I am not 100% which parts of the video are at which location.... but hey, lets play...

I am not 100% sure, but I thiiiiink these screengrabs are from the Galleria.

Definitely Ogden Mall.

Landis is pretty sure this is inside Oden Mall too.

We are not 100% sure, but we both suspect this is likely the Ogden Trainyard.

Lastly, I recently heard a random urban legend that apparently the music video she "casually runs by" the site of the infamous Hi-fi murders in Ogden. Landis grew up in Ogden so I defer to him here, he is not 100% sure but thinks this MIGHT be it. I am pretty spooky, I like spooky stuff, but this was not a rabbit hole I wanted to go down right now. That is more Landis' thing than mine. So... you can look that up if you want.

I remember the old 76 balls. I guess they were for a gas station back in the day. Anyway....

From this article (outside link), the iconic towers were torn down in 2014. I guess after a series of unfortunate activity lead the the entertainment centers demise in 2005.

And from this article (outside link), it looks like a developer got their grubby hands on the site, and demolished the rest of the building in 2023, but hasn’t submitted what they are doing with the property yet. Again, Murray really dropped the ball here.

I wish I had explored it before it was completely gone, even if it wasn't the same. :(

An image of the original building and towers from Search Salt Lake. Like I said, I spent my childhood and early teenage years here, I remember bowling and skating here, the Gravitron, and some Star Wars sort of ride.

Another shot of the original building I found on google.

Some inside shots, again, google.

Bonus shot of some of the old coins. One old 49th Street Galleria, one Utah Fun Done one, and an extra one from a surprisingly still standing Classic Fun Center. I guess I need to go take photos of that before it goes the way of the dodo too.

I am really surprised and frustrated that I am having difficulty locating a timeline for the buildings history, but I think I pieced most of it together. Feel free to let me know what I missed, or if I got anything wrong.

Well, that was a long segue. Back to the photos.

The large parking lot.

The entrance corridor again.

The old sign again.

The empty lot where the building once stood.

The entrance corridor again.

Empty lot again.

Panoramic.

The empty lot again.

I have no recollection of what this was. It looks like it was maybe a parking attendant station, or security station, or maybe a coffee shop?

Again.

One of the windows has been busted open. It looks like it is another canvas for local teens.

The empty lot again.

Mountains.

Empty lot again.

At this point I have hit Murray Boulevard AKA 5th West on my way back to Little Cottonwood Creek.

The Hunters Woods Apartments have been here for a while. So they are not the issue.

Pretty little pond.

Following along Murray Boulevard next to the Hunters Woods Apartments.

There is a random dedicated crosswalk here, even if it is a bit faded.

On the other side of Murray Boulevard.

Mountains. Also, I can read the posted sign here and confirm that I did not trespass today. Phew.

Continuing along Murray Boulevard.

Then I hit Little Cottonwood Creek and the trail back down to the Jordan River, completing the loop section of the random balloon trail I did today.

I knew I was going to see the demolished building, but I did not expect to go down the rabbit hole of it's history as much as I did, and of course go down the feelings of nostalgia that came with that. Its not really historic in the grand scheme or things, but it is to me, and people in my generation. It really is a shame it was disfigured and then ultimately destroyed. I am not sure where I want to land today, but meh, 5 squirrels since there is almost nothing left to remember what was.