This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, June 4. In this edition:
- Salt Lake City's comic con will have to adapt when its usual venue closes next year
- Part of Nine Mile Canyon is being preserved without becoming public land
What happens to FanX Comic Con when Salt Palace closes for three years?
The Salt Palace Convention Center is closing for a years-long remodel starting next year — so what’s going to happen to one of the biggest conventions that calls it home?
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention will have two smaller events in March and September in 2027 while the center operates at half capacity.
Then, during the full closure, it will move to the smaller Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy.
That will likely limit how many tickets are sold and may also make it harder to attract high-profile guests to the convention.
The Salt Palace’s remodel is tied to plans for an expanded entertainment district in Utah’s capital. The Utah-based company Smith Entertainment Group purchased a piece of land that includes part of the center last year.
Officials expect the remodel to finish by early 2031.
Part of Nine Mile Canyon is being preserved thanks to federal funds
Over 1,300 acres of land near Nine Mile Canyon in Carbon County is now getting permanent protection.
The project property serves as a summer range and migration corridor for big game species, according to state officials. Its sagebrush plateaus also support the struggling greater sage-grouse.
With growing development pressures, the landowners decided to seek a conservation easement. That’s a legal agreement that limits how land can be used in order to protect habitats and wildlife.
As part of its Forest Legacy program, the U.S. Forest Service allocated $750,000, which is the majority of funding needed for that easement. The rest came from undisclosed nonfederal sources.
The land will stay private, but sustainable forest management activities to reduce wildfire risks will be allowed.
