Architect shares aquarium vision

Sandy (Salt Lake Tribune) » City officials here caught their first glimpse Tuesday of a new vision for 11 acres just southwest of Sandy City Hall. The Proscenium -- which was pitched as a home for Utah's first mega Broadway theater -- has been scrapped for The Meridian, a possible new home for the Living Planet Aquarium.

Sandy spent $5.2 million to buy 8 of the 11 acres at the site, near 10200 South and east of Interstate 15, after the property went into foreclosure and the Proscenium's lead developer dropped out.

Russell Platt, the architect who designed The Proscenium, presented a new concept to the City Council on Tuesday. The Meridian would include 1 million square feet of commercial and residential space -- about half of what was proposed in The Proscenium. It would still sprout Sandy's three tallest buildings, but those would not soar quite so high: 20 to 26 stories instead of 30 to 40.

Platt hopes to jump-start the project himself. On Tuesday, the City Council gave a green light to Sandy staff to start negotiating the sale of a portion of the property to the architect.

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