SLC’s Delta Center to undergo major renovation with proposed sports district

If Salt Lake City goes ahead with construction on the planned district, Delta Center will be ready for a new entrance.

The group that owns the Utah Jazz and Utah’s recently acquired National Hockey League franchise envisions a grand entrance hall for Delta Center, residential towers and a new hotel as part of a proposal to transform downtown Salt Lake City into a sports and entertainment district.

The new arena’s entrance would lead to a new plaza and, if the sports district proposal moves forward, renovations at the longtime home of the Jazz could begin as soon as April of next year, Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Morgan said in a presentation to the Salt Lake City City Council on Tuesday.

“Now we want to have a downtown gathering space for the community to come together,” Morgan said, “and make sure that residents benefit even if they don’t buy tickets to a hockey game or a basketball game, or buy tickets to Abravanel Hall, or attend a convention.”

Morgan’s presentation was the public’s best look yet at how SEG plans to spend the roughly $1 billion in revenue that will come from a proposed 0.5 percent sales tax hike in Utah’s capital city.

Meanwhile, SEG, led by professional sports mogul Ryan Smith, has committed at least $3 billion of its own money to the district, which would be built two blocks due east of the Delta Center.

This story will be updated.