Washington Square is a park that surrounds the Salt Lake City and County Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. Taking up an entire city block and featuring an incredible amount of green and open space, it has the potential to be a major hub of activity for residents and visitors. However, the lack of features and ways for audiences to engage that it could otherwise contain has prevented it from becoming a true landmark for the city.
Named for George Washington, the block is the site of the original 1847 Mormon pioneers’ camp in Salt Lake City. It later became the focal point for semi-annual cattle drives and was used for a hay market, baseball grounds, carnivals and circus performances.
Trees, walkways, and a few statues surround the building, making Washington Square a serene gathering spot. A large fountain is the most notable monument in the space and it has a history that is connected to the Salt Lake City and County Building. However, the fountain is no longer operational and the open green spaces that fill the park are empty rather than inviting.
The large spaces between walkways feature ordinary shrubs and bushes rather than monuments or other features that would enable connection with audiences. There are no notable monuments that truly celebrate the history of the space or how Washington Square is connected to the origins of the city. While a handful of Salt Lake City’s cultural events like the Utah Arts Festival and Salt Lake City Jazz Festival take place at Washington Square, these events are few and far between.
The vast amount of open space that Washington Square contains showcases the literal potential it contains, while the fact that the Salt Lake City and County Building is featured in the Seal of Salt Lake City further highlights how the community could embrace everything that Washington Square contains in a larger way. Cultivating this type of engagement has more to do with defining a vision that would transform Washington Park into a hub for the community than it does with the actual space, further showcasing the incredible potential that it contains.
