Sugar House Park is located between I-80 , 2100 South, 1300 East, and 1700 East in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City , Utah , United States . The 110-acre (45 ha) park is at the heart of the Sugar House neighborhood. It was the site of a fireworks show and concert every Independence Day (July 4), but the event was discontinued in 2018 due to environmental, logistical, and financial reasons. It is a popular sledding location in the winter.
8-585: The park was the location of Sugar House Prison , Utah's first state prison, until 1951 when the Utah State Prison was opened in Draper . 40°43′23″N 111°50′56″W / 40.72306°N 111.84889°W / 40.72306; -111.84889 This article about a location in Utah is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sugar House Prison (Utah) Sugar House Prison , previously
16-579: The Utah Territorial Penitentiary , was a prison in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City , Utah , United States. The 180-acre (73 ha) prison housed more than 400 inmates. It was closed in 1951 due to encroaching housing development , and all of its inmates were moved to the new Utah State Prison in Draper . The site is now occupied by Sugar House Park and Highland High School . In January 1852 Territorial Assembly of
24-532: The Utah Territory approved a memorial requesting Congress appropriate $ 70,000 for a territorial penitentiary. Congress approved an appropriation of $ 20,000 in March 1853 and plans were drawn up. The following October, territorial governor Brigham Young selected the 10-acre (4.0 ha) government-owned site, then known as "The Big Field Survey", about six miles from central Salt Lake City. Sixteen "cozy cells dug into
32-454: The 1019-acre (408 ha) site, then called "Point of the Mountain", to replace the aging penitentiary. However, construction of the new facility was delayed because of shortages stemming from World War II . On March 12, 1951, the 575 inmates at the old prison were transferred by bus to the newly completed Utah State Prison . After nine sticks of dynamite had little effect on the heavy walls of
40-421: The counties where the crimes had been committed. Tickets were distributed in 1903 for admission to publicly view an execution by firing squad . With the continuing growth of Salt Lake City, the local residents eventually wanted the prison population relocated away from the neighborhood of Sugar House . In 1937, plans were approved for a new prison, 22 miles south of the city in Draper . By 1941, work began on
48-629: The ground, with iron bars on top" comprised the original prison at a cost of $ 32,000. The facility that became known as the Utah Territorial Penitentiary was opened in 1855. In 1867, the Utah Territorial Legislature determined that the prison was inadequate and once considered moving it onto an island in the Great Salt Lake . From 1871 to 1896, the penitentiary was federally operated by U.S. Marshals . The inmate capacity
56-399: The shuttered penitentiary, the demolition of many sections had to be carried out stone by stone. Following the razing of the old prison, proposals to repurpose the land included an amusement park, campground, golf course, and shopping center. The former site eventually became Sugar House Park, jointly owned by Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, while 30 acres (12 ha) were set aside for
64-482: Was expanded in 1875 to accommodate 300 individuals with the construction of a new cell house and prison walls. In 1896, the buildings and surrounding lands were given to the newly created State of Utah and were designated as the Utah State Prison, sometimes referred to as the "state pen". Starting in 1900, executions by the state were carried out in the prison. Prior to that, death penalties were administered in
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