SANDY, Utah — At least one business at the Shops at South Town has been asked to leave to make room for new National Hockey League practice rinks.
Smith Entertainment Group plans to build two regulation hockey rinks at the mall. They’ve also said they’ll build a locker room and headquarters for the team.
Quinn Winter, with the Utah Arts Alliance, said they’ve known for about a week they’d have to move Dreamscapes.
“We don’t blame the NHL,” Winter told KSL NewsRadio. “(Or the) Smith Entertainment Group. We know that the NHL and the Utah team being in Salt Lake is going to be a huge boost to the tourism and the arts and culture community here.”
Dreamscapes residency at South Town was temporary
In a statement, the marketing and business development manager at the Shops at South Town said the Utah Arts Alliance was “a solution to creatively activate a vacant department box on a temporary agreement.”
The statement continued by saying the mall ownership valued its two-year partnership with Utah Arts Alliance. And the shopping complex said it “remains committed to working with tenants to find solutions as needs evolve.”
Winter said the Alliance is in the process of negotiating several possible new locations. One is the Art Castle on 900 West in Salt Lake City.
“While this is not our ideal situation, we’re trying to look at the positives,” Winter said. “Evaluate a variety of locations we could move to, how that would impact Dreamscapes moving forward and reimagine the space.”
Time to reassess
Further, in a statement, the Alliance said they would use this downtime to reassess.
“As with past Dreamscapes moves, Utah Arts Alliance is using this time to reimagine what Dreamscapes will look like. What art will be showcased, and how to continue supporting artists.”
Dreamscapes currently occupies a building on the west side of The Shops at South Town.
According to its web page, the shopping mall is “one of Utah’s largest shopping destinations.” It boasts nearly 1.3 million square feet of retail space.
