When the White House Calls

A Half-Century of Endeavors
Page 94

In 1975, the State of Utah was making preparations for the bicentennial celebration. As part of
this momentous occasion, Salt Lake County residents passed a bond issue for the construction of
the new Symphony Hall, the adjacent Art Center, and the restoration of the historic Capitol
Theatre in Salt Lake City. The architects’ design concept for the three projects together exceeded
$30 million, while available funding was less than $20 million. Several other architecture firms
competing in the selection process came up with interesting designs, but all were over budget.

The Utah Bicentennial Commission chairman, Obert C. Tanner, a successful businessman,

educator, and community leader, named Jack Gallivan as chairman of the Planning and
Construction Committee. The committee also included several community-minded individuals,
but few had any construction or cost-control experience.

Having established a reputation in the construction industry as a quality builder with tight cost
controls, John Price Associates Inc. could handle such a construction project from the earliest
stages through completion, saving the owner substantial money and also providing earlier
occupancy. In the fall of 1975, I received a call from Frank Nelson, president of United Bank,
and George Nicolatus, a respected architect at First Security Bank who was in charge of their
facilities planning and construction. I had worked with George on several projects over the years
when he was in private practice, so we had developed a good working relationship. When I met
with Frank and George, I agreed to help the committee as a consultant, since the arts complex
was a community endeavor. Jack Gallivan, the publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune, was also an
acquaintance as a result of my business dealings with a Tribune partner in the television and
cable business, George Hatch, and so he too had confidence in JPA.

My engineering staff worked around the clock to come up with alternatives for materials on all
three projects that would be cost-effective yet stay close to the preferred architectural designs
and finish aspects. When the joint planning was done, the edifices were an outstanding
collaboration by all the participating organizations. I told the committee I would be willing to
guarantee completion of the three building projects within the $20 million budget, but I would
require some control over architectural matters.

Several of the committee’s members were friends with the architects and were reluctant to go
along, but ultimately the committee agreed. To help keep costs within the budget, I decided to
donate back a portion of my construction management fee and instead negotiated a sharing
clause on savings below the budget as an incentive for the hardworking JPA staff, as well as an
added insurance to avoid overruns.
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4.5. Symphony Hall (now Abravanel Hall), 1979

To my knowledge, this was the first civic project of this size in the country to be built under the
construction management concept. Initially there were mixed feelings about this approach: as
noted, the architects were not too happy under this arrangement, and neither were some of the
arts groups, who wanted more embellishments than could be provided with the available funds.

In October 1978 the restored Capitol Theatre was reopened to the public; and the following year,
Symphony Hall (renamed Abravanel Hall in 1993) and the Salt Lake Art Center greeted the
public. The JPA team of contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and finish artisans delivered these
three magnificent structures in a first-class manner, on time, and more than $1 million under
budget! The architects and engineers received accolades for the projects and ultimately became
believers in the construction management approach. The arts groups were also happy to have
been consulted, and provided valuable input; plus, because JPA donated back half of the savings-
clause share that it earned, these groups were able to have some of the embellishments they had
desired. Today these buildings are as magnificent as when they were first built—a tribute to this
great community endeavor. All these years later, I still choke up with pride when I visit these
edifices for a performance or show.

(Source: When the White House Calls, From Immigrant Entrepreneur to U.S. Ambassador- The University of
Utah Press, 2011)