The 5 statues atop the SLC City and County Building

The statue "Columbia" atop the SLC City and County Building, ca 1894.
Historic photo from USHS.

The five statues atop the SLC City and County Building (451 S State SLC) have an interesting past. The current statues were placed in 1986 and 1989 as part of the massive building restoration effort.

(Fun fact = the City and County building was the first in the nation to be retrofitted with a seismic base isolation system).

The five statues are:

1. “Columbia” is located atop the central clock tower. Columbia was the popular symbol of America before the Statue of Liberty
2. “Liberty” on the north gable
3. “Justice” on the south gable
4. “Commerce” on the east gable
5. “Commerce” on the west gable
   

   
   
   

   The SLC City and County Building in 1905. Note the presence of the statues.
   Historic photo from USHS.

The 5 statues were part of the original building, dedicated in 1894. They were made of pressed zinc and were painted to simulate the sandstone of the building. The original statues were ordered from a catalog at a cost of $325 for Columbia and $300 each for the others.

The catalog may have been the W. H. Mullins Catalogue of Architectural Ornaments and Statuary, which was one of the primary suppliers of zinc statues and located in Salem, Ohio. One of their catalogs can be viewed on archive.org.

The Mullins Company supplied a variety of statues and architectural ornaments to many public buildings at this time. In addition to the five discussed here, depictions of Agriculture, Science, Music, Industry, and Freedom were popular. Some of these original statues on public buildings throughout the US have been restored.

After a large 6.6 earthquake in 1934, Columbia, Liberty, and Justice were damaged and removed (“junked” according to a 1954 Deseret News article) from the City and County Building.

But the two Commerce statues remained until 1954, at which point severe corrosion was found with their iron mountings and they were also removed.

One of the Commerce statues was placed at the SLC Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Memorial Museum storeroom, where it remained until the 1980s (not sure where it is now).

The SLC City and County building was void of its statutes for decades, until the restoration effort of the late 1980s.

The SLC City and County Building in 1972. Note the lack of statues.
Historic photo from USHS.

The first statue to be restored was the centerpiece Columbia in 1986 by artist Richard Young. The first concept of Young was rejected as being “anorexic by 1890s standards.” Young’s second concept plumped up the goddess statue by adding bulk to the shoulders and hips to make it more closely resemble the original catalog model. The new Columbia is made of cast bronze and has a leaden-tin finish.

The Commerce statue on the east gable was also replaced in 1986 and was created by Gordon Lewis Newby and Rudy Chagney. It seems this statue replacement was part of a roofing contract.

The remaining three statues (Commerce on the west, Justice, and Liberty) were able to be replaced because the overall bid to renovate the building came in under budget. That allowed these three statues and some other work, like stone carving restoration, to be completed.

These remaining three statues (Justice, Liberty, and the western Commerce) were created by artist Angelo Caravaglia, whose work I have featured in past posts- the fountain in front of the Bennett Federal Building and the twin bronzes previously attached to the old Mountain Bell Data Center building.

The Justice, Liberty, and Commerce statues are all made of hammered copper sheet (repoussé technique) with a dark patina finish.

As the two Commerce statues were made by different people, they are significantly different in appearance. I have included a possible catalog image for comparison (although the items in the hands are opposite).

Sources:

• Salt Lake Herald Republican 1893-12-08 p5
• Deseret News 1954-06-17 p50
• Daily Spectrum 1986-01-01- p4
• Salt Lake Tribune 1986-08-10 p21
• Daily Spectrum 1986-11-28 p2
• Salt Lake Tribune 1987-02-05 p39
• Salt Lake Tribune 1989-04-23 pg115
• Salt Lake City Corporation Insurance Appraisal by Allen Dodworth Art Appraisal Associates. March 2013.
• City and County Building SHPO file, Utah State Historical Society
• Catalogue of architectural ornaments and statuary, in sheet zinc, brass or copper / manufactured by W.H. Mullins, Salem, Columbiana Co., Ohio. 1894 (from archive.org).
• Zinc sculpture in America, 1850-1950 by Carol A Grisson, 2009. (from archive.org).