ZCMI Cast Iron Front

The ZCMI Cast Iron Front is a historic building facade, currently attached to the City Creek Center facing South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The facade, built out of cast iron and stamped steel between 1876 and 1901, is a well-preserved example of a metal facade, and a reminder of the city's 19th-century commercial past. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[1]

Z.C.M.I. Cast Iron Front
The facade in December 2006 (prior to its incorporation into the City Creek Center)
Location15 South Main Street
Salt Lake City, Utah
United States
Coordinates40°46′8″N 111°53′24″W
Built1876 (1876)
ArchitectFolsom, William H., et al.
NRHP reference No.70000632[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 22, 1970

Description and history

City Creek Center is a major mixed-use commercial and residential development in downtown Salt Lake City. On the east side of South Main Street, just south of South Temple Street, is the ZCMI Cast Iron Front. It presently forms the facade of the center's Macy's store. The facade is about 50 feet (15 m) wide and three stories in height, and is divided into three sections, articulated by square columns between them and at the ends. Each section is composed of seven bays, separated by paneled columns with Corinthian capitals. Above the first two floors there are modillioned cornices separating the floors, with a deeper projecting cornice at the roof level. The roof cornice of the outer levels is further adorned with a layer of dentil work below the modillions, and has brackets above each of the columns. The middle section cornice includes a fully pedimented gable, and is raised above a frieze panel with vine motifs around two circular panels with the dates 1868 and 1999, and a central panel bearing the legend ZCMI.[2]

The ZCMI department store was founded in 1868, and is described as the first department store in the United States. Its flagship store for many years was built in 1876 to a design by local architect William Folsom, and at first featured only the central portion of this facade, which was fashioned out of cast iron. In two enlargements, occurring in 1880 and 1901, the facade was extended, the first time also in cast iron, the second time in stamped sheet metal.[2] The facade was retained when the store behind it was demolished to make way for the City Creek Center development.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "NRHP nomination for ZCMI Cast Iron Front". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-10-26.

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