MovieChat Forums > Carnival of Souls (1962) Discussion > The abandoned Saltair Pavillion

The abandoned Saltair Pavillion

posted 11 years ago by diddleysquat-1
42 replies | jump to latest

THERE IS A FASCINATING BACK-STORY TO THIS!!!!

When I read that the creator of this film was inspired to come up with the story after seeing the old pavillion on a trip the Great Salt Lake, I decided to do some research and really got drawn into it.

It's the old Saltair II you see in the film. It's referred to as Saltair II because it's a replacement for the original Saltair that burned in 1925. And what a history it has. I got so curious after seeing the film that I spent weeks hunting down information and photographs. And there you get what almost amounts to a real horror story.

You could say - if you believed in such things - that the place is cursed.

SALTAIR I (1893-1925)

The first Saltair was a palace. It was magnificent. It opened in 1893 way ahead of it's time, with a high tech "Edison" device to produce electricity. In 1893, electric lights were a very big deal. So were the rides, which were rare outside of World Fairs and Coney Island. In fact, the roller coaster had been invented less than a decade before. And the first ferris wheel was built the same year the pavillion opened, 1893.

Saltair I had everything, more than you could possibly imagine. And it was successful beyond anything anyone's dreams. On opening day, Memorial Day of 1893, it attracted 10,000 people, which is amazing out there in that desert. The lake, of course, was a draw as well because the water is so dense with salt that you can't sink.

And Saltair I kept getting more popular. The Wright Brothers went there in 1911 (and possibly before) to demonstrate their new "flying machine" and an airstrip was built just for that. It was visited by public figures on a regular basis, including president William Howard Taft who is shown at Saltair in a picture dated September of 1909.

And just when the glamorous resort was at it's peak, it all disappeared, destroyed by fire on the 22nd of April 1925.

SALTAIR II

Immediately, plans were underway to rebuild. I actually have the blueprints for the Saltair II shown in the film. Whether they're the final ones or not, I don't know. They're dated 1926.

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was Saltair. So the second amusement park wasn't ready for opening day until 1931. And it never truly succeeded.

Between 1925 and 1931 many things had changed. The novelty of the rides wore off. The stock market crash of 1929 had sent the country into economic misery. Movies had gone from flickering silents to real Hollywood productions. The "movie palace," the large, ornate movie theaters that grew up during the 1920s, supplied some of the same luxury people went to Saltair to experience. Radio had taken hold and provided low cost entertainment. The market just wasn't there. You could say that the place was doomed from the start. And six years is a long time in the public attention span. The public was accustomed to the idea of "No Saltair."

The "new" Saltair struggled along and survived the 1930s. It apparently closed to the public during the World War II years, then reopened. But visitors continued to drift away. Photos of the place in the mid 1950s are really pathetic. There's nobody there. What you see is a big empty place with a couple of people in the whole wide-angle shot on what's obviously a lovely summer day. The signs of neglect are brutally apparent in the outbuildings surrounding the pavillion.

The pavillion finally closed in 1958 and sat there rotting for the next twelve years. It burned in November of 1970 (eight years after this film) in an arson fire set on the ballroom floor. Some old raw footage of the fire is available on YouTube.

SALTAIR III

Then somebody had the bright idea of building another Saltair. Yes, Saltair III. And the story doesn't get more bizarre than this.

Water levels at the lake had been going down for years so the size of it shrunk. The new Saltair, Saltair III, was not built on exactly the same spot where Saltair I and II had been located. It was located about 1.8 miles south-southwest, closer to the Salt Lake Marina. And more importantly, it was built to be close to the shrunken Salt Lake shoreline.

The third Saltair was finished and opened in 1981. It's architectural design looked a lot like the others, but greatly scaled down and more modern. There were the usual rides and stands and amusement park stuff.

But ... (and this is where the curse thing gets real) ... just months after it opened, the levels in the Salt Lake rose back to normal and the place was flooded. It sat in that briny water like a rock for about ten years. Yes, there's video of that on YouTube, as well.

Needless to say Saltair III was ruined. Still, in 1993, twelve years after it opened and was flooded, it was partially restored and used as a concert venue.

If you research the place now, people describe it as creepy, eerie, very unsettling or even frightening. It's a weatherbeaten hulk with occasional unfixed broken windows that sits on a vast, empty parking lot with a paper sign (no kidding, a cardboard poster) in front of it. You can rent it for parties and there are some minor concerts ("raves") there from time to time. Unless you're into that stuff, it's safe to say you've never heard of any of the acts.

And these days Saltair is on the news only when a dead body is found out there. The skeletal remains of a teen were discovered in 2000. A few years later, there was a body in a burning car, which was closer to the location of the old Saltair than the new. And more recently a young man drowned in water just across the highway from Saltair III.

IF NOT A CURSE, INCREDIBLE BAD LUCK

So the first Saltair lasted an exuberant 32 years, then went up in smoke. The second was not as lavishly built but still impressive. But it opened to massive disinterest and a dreadful economy. And the third.... well, you could say it drowned in it's infancy and it's just sitting there, like the heroin in Carnival of Souls, waiting for the graveyard to catch up.

And isn't that ironic?

[–] galdana30 11 years ago

I saw the movie yesterday (May 19th 2013).. a great movie.. and yours... a great and spooky story.. sure..

[–] DracTarashV 11 years ago

Wow, that was a great read - very intruiging.

But I must say, while its history is certainly haunting, at the same it's also a bit sad. I mean, if you're a fan of this film, watching the footage of Saltair II burning will make you weep, haha.

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

Thanks. During the 1960s there was an effort to restore and preserve the old Saltair you see in the film. The architecture really is impressive. But on top of the damage done by neglect, there were two big fires, both intentionally set.

The first was on the first of September in 1967. The pavillion and all the surrounding buildings and rides had been built out over the water on an elevated platform - like a huge pier, you could say (same as the first Saltair). The 1967 fire burned a big part of the under-structure in front of the pavillion, but it didn't damage the pavillion itself.

The second and final arson fire was set by a person or persons pouring gasoline on the dancehall floor in the pavilion and torching it. That was in November of 1970. I've searched for the exact date for a long time and can't find it. But that's the one that completely destroyed the Saltair you see in the movie. Firefighters could do little to put out the fire because the structure on which it stood had been so compromised in the earlier fire that it wouldn't hold the weight of the fire trucks. Although only the month is noted, there is film footage of the November 1970 fire on YouTube.

I often wish the place was still standing. I'd be out there in a heartbeat to shoot pictures. And I don't even live in Utah.

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

[–] brian-740 11 years ago

I'll be at the current incarnation of Saltair tonight for a concert. I've been there before but not for any particular event. I'm excited!

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

If you get to look around the place, let us know.

Have fun!

[–] Dream_Demon 11 years ago

That was an interesting backstory the TC posted. I wonder why the Saltair carnival has such bad luck.

Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

I think the fire that destroyed the first Saltair was not very unusual at the time (1925). Remember, the original opened in 1893, the same year as the Chicago World's Fair. People went to the latter to see this new thing called "electricity" that lit up the exposition. And undoubtedly one of the big attractions at Saltair was the modern lighting it boasted.

It seems like every year the management added a lot to that resort - an airstrip (used in 1911 by the Wright brothers), the Hippodrome movie house for silent films, merry-go-round and roller coaster and still more exotic amusements every year. It wouldn't be surprising if they just reached the point of overload. That happened pretty often back in those days when electricity was becoming more and more common but wasn't as modern and safe as it came to be in later years. There were a lot of fires in those days.

But the decision to re-build Saltair II was probably not the soundest in the world. At the time, maybe. The beach houses and swimming facilities were opened in 1926, but the pavilion wasn't completed until later - possibly as late as 1931. The record just isn't clear on that.

But between 1925, when the grand old Saltair burned, and 1931 (or even 1930), there was major changes that affected how the redeveloped site would prosper for decades into the future. For one thing, there was the great depression and the widespread unemployment and poverty that it brought. Talking movies also appeared. And the popularity of the automobile was constantly growing, all reasons to do something else besides go all the way out to Saltair.

But other things seem more like plain old bad luck. The Great Salt Lake is unpredictable at best. It's shallow. and that means even slight changes in the water level significantly affect the shoreline. In the 1930s and again in the 1950s, the water receded. And when that happens, foul-odored sediment that's normally at the bottom of the lake is exposed to air. It's gooey, slimy, sticky (not popular with swimmers) with the added attraction of making the whole amusement park smell bad. Then in the 1940s, there was a sewage pollution scare. Things just kept going wrong. And with dwindling income came scrimping on maintenance. Gradually the park started to look run-down and cheap. In fact, what had been their main attraction, the Giant Racer roller coaster, collapsed in a strong wind in 1957 - not exactly something that inspires confidence. It reopened for its last summer in 1958, and was then abandoned.

Building the third Saltair just seems like folly no matter how you look at it. They assumed that, since lake levels had been very low for over a decade, the lake was permanently smaller. So they positioned the building closer to the water and erected it on a slab - no elevated pier to accommodate rising waters. But even as construction got underway, the lake started rising. They looked the other way and opened it. Just months later, it was under water. And it stayed that way for ten years.

And that's just dumb.

[–] brian-740 11 years ago

The concert got postponed to July 13, so I'll check it out then. I guess the singer got sick or something.

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

Well, thanks for checking back. Hopefully, we'll hear from you then. :-)

[–] ksf-2 11 years ago

history and recent photos (2002) at wikipedia.org

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltair,_Utah

this was more interesting than the movie..

For those interested in the subject of abandoned amusement parks,
check out

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_amusement_parks

can click the "USA" section to jump to it.

[–] libby2130 9 years ago

such an interesting backstory thanks for sharing

[–] dzizwheel 8 years ago

Thank you for verifying that first fire in 1967 at the SaltAir II Diddley. My Mother, little brother and I were there about a week before, talked to an old man about the attempt at revival.It had always fascinated me sitting out there on the Great Salt Lake on trips to and from Salt Lake City.

I saw the smoke when it went up in flames on my walk to school in Tooele UT [ Harris Elementary].

My Mother had been at Saltair II as a little girl. She told me one of the reasons it had closed was that a little girl had been killed on the rickety wooden roller coaster. All rumor, I guess, but added to the mystique.

I remember reading in the newspaper at the time,that the building, with it's metal turrets and suggest would have cost the state too much to tear it down, hence, I wasn't surprised, later, when it burned to the ground via arson. I still have the article in a scrapbook.

We had moved by 1968 and I was flipping channels and saw the Saltair and nearly flipped. That was the first time I saw Carnival Of Souls and it's been one of my favorite movies ever since.

Thanks for filling in so many details.

[–] jackthemack 11 years ago

Thank you for a fantastic and intriguing read. I can't wait to find and watch the movie. I appreciate your storytelling and the detailed facts of this sad and mysterious place.

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

Thank you!!!

You will love the movie. In the story, it's the old pavilion that draws the heroine to it. It does the same for the viewer.

In a fascinating narrative included in the Criterion Edition (well worth the extra $$$), the producer describes Saltair as the spookiest location he had ever seen. No kidding! And that's before he knew the history.

[–] lauriehale2000 11 years ago

Hi There diddleysquat=1

I thoroughly enjoyed your back story about Saltair II and your extensive research about the resort.
My mother grew up in So. Utah and made several trips to the Salt Lake area, including Saltair II as a kid growing up in the 1930's. I grew up in So CA going to Disneyland every year and Magic Mountain, yet my mother was always afraid to go on the more wild roller coaster type rides. She would always tell the story about the old roller coaster at Saltair (the Giant Racer) and how she would watch people ride it, it was a rickety thing and always looked like it was about to fall apart with every curve, so she wouldn't ride it. I wanted to see it, but of course by the time she was telling the story, the great coaster had long since blown away. I first went to the Great Salt Lake in 1974, when there was nothing but beaches, no Saltair. I went back in 1981 when Saltair III opened and was disappointed that it was not like the first two. No rides, or games just shops. I can't remember if the Pavilion had opened yet or not. There was just nothing resembling the earlier versions that interested me.
The movie Carnival of Souls was one that scared the crap out of me growing up, and recently I watched it for the first time in some 40+ years. I never new Saltair II was used in the filming. The image of the Pavilion has been in my mind for decades, yet I never knew the connection. I recently did my own research of the properties and was saddened to hear of the on-going problems either economically or with natural disaster. I do not believe in luck or "curses," they are something man has created. The area where the Saltair resorts have been built is exposed to harsh weather because of the salinity of the water, and pollution from nearby Kennecot. The property has a history of falling into disrepair because of the constant cost of weather and element damage. Saltair I was built and dedicated with priesthood authority by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints to create an edifying family environment, and they succeeded in such until the church sold the property. The area is remote, and I think this, with unwise business and marketing decisions have been the demise of its popularity. The rise and fall of the water level should have been planned for. During the 1960's the water level rose to its highest, so the builders of Saltair III should have know there was the possibility of level fluctuation. I lived in the area for a couple of years and never visited the Great Salt Lake. Most locals do not because of the smell. The novelty wears off when you live there, I think. Still, our family is planning a trip to the area in the next couple of months and I plan to make a stop to soak in the mineral rich water, and look at the closed pavilion for nostalgia. The fact that Saltair lives on, whether just as a special event rental, or concert venue shows that it has an energy of survival, no matter what. Thank you so much for your thoughts, research, and sharing!

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

Thanks for writing. I still look up what I can find on Saltair and have a huge collection of photos and videos and documents.

The Giant Racer roller coaster supposedly survived the April 1925 fire that destroyed the first Saltair. Assuming that's true, as several sources say, then it was standing since at least 1908 if not earlier. I have a photo dated 1908. And it does look very much the same as it did in the era of Saltair II. So it's no wonder, given the enormity of the maintenance problems, that it appeared shaky and not too safe. It finally collapsed, as you probably know, near the end of summer 1957.

The first Saltair was extremely successful. But when it burned the resort stayed closed all that summer and opened in 1926. But I doubt the second pavilion was in place at that time. There would have been "bathing" and swimsuit rental, as some or most beach houses survived the fire. I've seen various dates for the construction of Saltair II, going as late as 1931. I suspect that it was under construction for a couple of years at least.

There were apparently financial problems that delayed the rebuilding. The original resort was insured for only $100K. That was a bunch of money back then, but still only a fraction of what the construction was worth. So new funds had to be raised to complete the second. Both were built on exactly the same spot. And in 1929 came the stock market crash and the Great Depression. So it started out with two strikes against it.

Saltair III was built on the cheap a decade after the second one (long abandoned) was destroyed by arson. In fact, much of the latest incarnation is facade put around an old airplane hangar. How much choice they had about the location, it's hard to say. But there was definitely an assumption that the water level at the lake had permanently declined. Then, of course, once construction started, the water began to rise to what became an all time high level by 1986.

When Saltair III first opened up in 1981 or 1982, there were a few amusements or rides. I have pictures showing concession stands, a fake lake with what looks like little paddle boats in it, a huge water slide, and a few other things. But when the place went underwater almost as soon as it opened, that was all wiped out. To this day you can see what looks like rubble from the outbuildings piled up on he west side of I-81 about a short ways down the road from Saltair (Google Earth).

The third Saltair is still open, last I heard. It's used only occasionally as a concert venue for raves. That's been pretty controversial. A KSL-TV (Channel 5) report on these events stressed the number of underage kids being hospitalized after overdosing on drugs and liquor out there. That report was aired in (I think) March of 2012. The Saltair website still lists coming events. But with publicity like that, I wouldn't be surprised to see it end before very long.

Glad you're interested in this, too. I would have loved to see the second Saltair (the one in the movie) while it was still standing.

There's a new "Criterion Edition" DVD of Carnival of Souls with stunningly clear images. That video is worth the money if you want to see the movie in a decent format. You really can see what the place looked like in 1961 when the actual filming was done.

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

I just looked at the video from Channel 5 about the wild parties at Saltair. It actually aired on the 9th of March 2011. Sorry. I thought it was last year!

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

I just looked at the video from Channel 5 about the wild parties at Saltair. It actually aired on the 9th of March 2011. Sorry. I thought it was last year!

[–] beavertoof 11 years ago

thanks for this interesting info.

[–] aburbage 11 years ago

Wow. Thank you so much for sharing such detailed information! I can see how you got sucked into it. I have long been fascinated by the backdrop of this film. I live in Philadelphia and it reminds me of my childhood memories of Wildwood NJ, Atlantic Cty and Coney Island of the 60's-70's. This relic of a place totally warranted developing a story around it. Still love this movie!

[–] diddleysquat-1 11 years ago

I live one state away from the old Saltair and never saw Saltair II during it's life, other than in the movie. But like you, I'm originally from the east - New Jersey. In fact, we lived very close to Asbury Park where that old Palace Amusement Park stood for so many years. That's fascinating, too, but there's something extra-special about the old Saltair.

If you get the Criterion Edition of Carnival of Souls - released in the last couple of years with dazzling clear video and audio - you'll see an interview with the producer, Hank Hervey, in which he explains how he got drawn into it.

The size of the grand pavilion was immense, much bigger than photos or movie can show. Hervey caught sight of it driving along I-81 when it stood against the sunset nearly a mile off the road. It was massive and dark and totally still against the late afternoon sun and the breeze from the lake behind it. The contrast between the sunlit water and beaches and the dark, foreboding presence of Saltair had to impress. He called it the "spookiest" location he had ever seen.

It's worth watching the extras if you're inclined to buy the new (not cheap) criterion edition of the movie. Hervey and the cast and crew offer lots of fascinating stories - not about Saltair's history but about the filming of the movie. Amazing stuff!

[–] collinclink 10 years ago

This may be the next best thing to real
in 3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miuq_zNGyG4

[–] diddleysquat-1 10 years ago

Very cool. Looks positively scary! :-)

[–] PsychoDingo 11 years ago

It's cool to read about the history of the site. Thanks for taking the time to research and post about it!

They'll hang you as sure as 10 dimes will buy a dollar

[–] PrometheusTree64 10 years ago

One of those gargantuan, robber-baron/gilded-age edifices from the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Like old Penn Station. Just humongous.

Thanks for posting.

--

Non-sequiturs are delicious.

[–] FrederickofHollywood 10 years ago

Wow, glad I found this thread. :)

I remember seeing this movie a few years back and I liked it.

I happen to be from the Salt Lake City area. I live about 20 miles from Great Salt Lake and just last Sunday the 27th, on kind of a whim, my girlfriend and I got curious about old Saltair, and decided to drive out there. It was finally destroyed by fire the year I was born, 1970, so I never got to see it. I have been to, and or driven past Saltair III many times and just never thought much about it. They have an occasional concert there, and a gift shop with some cool postcards and photos, etc., and of course, salt water taffy :).

Anyway, we got out to the site on the frontage rd. off of I-80. You have to park, and walk through a small gate to walk out there. The two "earthen projections" as they are called, still extend outward toward the lake. The northern one was part of a drainage system, and the southern one, is the actual approach to what used to be Saltair. They are mostly just gravel, rocks, and weeds now, and a lot of broken up concrete. The lake has been receding for several years due to drought, and the water is a good mile and a half from the road, so you can walk down from the raised area, onto the lake bed. There is a lot of area there which as recently as the early to mid 90's was completely covered by water, so it is a little soft and mushy. I have to say, it is eerie to walk across that surface. You all may have seen the old photos of people floating and swimming in the lake, with that massive palace in the background. You can just see it in your imagination! It's like something that was there for so long, and occupied that much space, had to leave some ghosts behind :)

As of now, there is a lot of debris there, some boards, wires, bricks, pieces of wood. Others have said that if you look around, you can find old dishes there from the café. Didn't see any of those, though :) What is left behind are a lot of the pilings that Saltair sat on. There are a few taller, ornately carved posts visible also. You can follow perfect rows of pilings along the ground which formed the piers, along with some slanted boards which I imagine were the stairways from the pier directly down to the water. We followed them out until they once again disappeared into the lake.

Really an interesting and fun afternoon out there. Kind of sad also, and most definitely spooky! I can see why the director of Carnival of Souls wanted to use the pavilion. It definitely added much to the movie :)

[–] diddleysquat-1 10 years ago

Amazing report! There's hardly a spot on the planet with a more fascinating or eerie history. I'm too far from the scene to go out there myself and explore, much as I'd like to. Maybe one day. But your account of your visit there is very, very much appreciated.

Should you ever get a chance to go back and take pictures or video to post online, I'd love to see it.

[–] essex9999 10 years ago

Saltair is a fascinating and spooky place, isn't it? I visited it on a whim while in SLC in the early 2000s. There were very few people there, and the sense of isolation and desolation was striking. For an Easterner like me, that feeling is accentuated by the dry, barren surroundings, which feel otherworldly anyway, without any help from mysterious abandoned buildings. Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar with COS at the time, or the experience would have been even eerier.

By the way, I was equally fascinated by the weird sculpture isolated in the desert by the side of I-80, west of Salt Lake. I think it's called the "Tree of Life". I also seem to remember passing a massive, abandoned (?) salt or nitrate plant out in the middle of nowhere a little further west on the Interstate. And I was very aware that Dugway Proving Grounds were somewhere not far off to the south.

In other words, I came away with the impression of Utah as a bizarre, creepy place, and I mean that as a compliment. :-)