If you’re strolling down Main Street, say around the 200 South block, and you want to know what the weather forecast is going to be, you might be tempted to pull out the ol’ smartphone.
Yes, that weather app sure is handy.
But on second thought, all you need to do is look up; up to the top of a 100 year old building. Immediately, you’d realize it’s time to ditch the office and head up the mountain for an afternoon of skiing Utah’s pristine slopes. Snow is on its way.
How do you know?
Because for for the better part of the last 50 years, the sign that adorns the top of the Walker Center building in downtown Salt Lake City has lit up to alert passersby of the impending weather.
Built in 1912, the Walker Center building was named after two entrepreneurial brothers who ran a mercantile and banking business in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
In fact, the Walker’s banking business became the very first banking institution in the state of Utah.
The building quickly became the pride of the skyline and attracted notoriety as the tallest building between Chicago and San Francisco when it opened.
Over the years, the building has gone through numerous changes but still retains its original charm.
In 2005, a group of private Utah investors purchased the historic building and commissioned a full renovation to bring it back to its glory. In 2006, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, cementing its legacy in downtown Salt Lake.
Although other buildings have sprung up around the Walker Center building, it is the sign that sits on the building’s roof that garners much of the attention of residents and visitors alike.
Shaun Fisher
Originally a transmit tower for KDYL radio, the signs was turned into a weather tower in the early 1950’s. Incredibly, the tower was removed in 1983 due to a city sign ordinance of all things (another reason to dislike the 80’s). Thankfully, in 2008, the new owners decided to bring the tower back– in full compliance of the current sign code for all to enjoy.
The Walker sign now stands 64 feet tall and shines solid red for snow, flashing red for rain, solid blue for clear blue skies and flashing blue for overcast skies.
So if you find yourself in the vicinity of the Walker Center building on one of those typical Utah days, when the weather looks like it could clear up or dump two feet of the white stuff, take a glance at the iconic tower instead of pulling out the latest tech gadget.
Even if you don’t heed the forecast, you’ll still get a great view of one of the great signs in Utah!
@24saltlake There is also a poem: Solid blue, skies are too. Flashing blue, clouds are due. Solid red, rain ahead. Flashing red,snow instead
— Jordan (@jortron) January 26, 2015
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