Here come "The Wrecking Ball Wildcats" - History repeats in SLC as Jazz Arena to also be demolished

[Alaskawildkat]

Ready to tear the roof off again?

The Northwestern Wildcats will be repeating history this week by being one of the last basketball teams to play in the Utah Jazz's Vivint Smart Home Arena prior to its reconstruction as well. Even the price tags are similar with the makeover of the Welsh-Ryan Arena to cost $110 Million and the Utah Jazz's Arena's reconstruction projected at $125 million.

Just a little more than a week ago, the present Northwestern Basketball team played the last game in their own arena back in Evanston and will be playing one of, if not the last game (assuming they advance to Saturday), in the Utah Jazz's arena in Salt Lake City.

"SALT LAKE CITY — The $125 million renovation of the Vivint Smart Home Arena will begin on the main plaza and ticket box office lobby on Monday after the facility serves as the site of the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds." (Deseret News)

By the way for those heading to Salt Lake City and looking for something to do apart from basketball, there is an excellent museum which includes a lot of pioneer history within walking distance just up a few blocks from the basketball venue. It is located just across the street from Temple Square. Of course on Temple Square one can also join ongoing tours, and/or if timed right, catch a Tabernacle Organ or Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice/recital there. (There is no charge for museum admission or the Temple Square tours. The museum is open weekdays from 9 AM to 9 PM and Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM and its address is 45 N West Temple.)

A few photos from a prior Spring visit to the museum and Temple Square:

(My museum photos are of a display that includes the original dies that were used to mint some of the first gold coins from the California Gold Rush gold to include in 1849 the first $20 gold coin. It preceded the U.S. Philadelphia minted $20 Double Eagle that followed by going into circulation a year later than the Utah minted coin.)

Wikipedia link regarding the museum:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_History_Museum

 

[Alaskawildkat]

For anyone interested in the subject of the museum's display relating to the Utah minting of gold that was discovered by Mormons in California at Sutter's Mill which started the California Gold Rush, here is a close up photo of one of the surviving coins which I once owned.

(As described in the above display, the Mormons who discovered gold were recently discharged soldiers from the United States' Mormon Battalion which had concluded, in California, a lengthy march through the Southwest during The American-Mexican War of 1846-1848.)

 

[NU Houston]

Cool coins. Those were issued by the US Treasury and entered into circulation in the US?

Regarding renovations of the arena, how will they be starting on Monday when the Jazz still have a couple of months remaining in their season?

 

[phatcat]

 

[NU Houston]

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Provo, Spain?

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Cool coins. Those were issued by the US Treasury and entered into circulation in the US?

Regarding renovations of the arena, how will they be starting on Monday when the Jazz still have a couple of months remaining in their season?

As to the coins, they are classified today as "Territorials" or "Pioneer Gold" and are collected along with other coins which were privately minted in California, Oregon, and Colorado during the mid 1800s. At the time California had an U.S. Government Assay office which could certify the percentage of actual gold content for some of its melted gold products whether bars or coins. Utah's coins were unique in that they were minted under its own governmental authority which I believe was then named Deseret rather than Utah and actually expanded into portions of what are now nearby separate states.

Regarding the Jazz arena it appears from the Deseret News article that the initial renovations will be to areas other than the playing area. I note for example that apparently starting Monday their box office is being relocated to a close by location near the Marriott Hotel.

 

[rmndcat]

For anyone interested in the subject of the museum's display relating to the Utah minting of gold that was discovered by Mormons in California at Sutter's Mill which started the California Gold Rush, here is a close up photo of one of the surviving coins which I once owned.

(As described in the above display, the Mormons who discovered gold were recently discharged soldiers from the United States' Mormon Battalion which had concluded, in California, a lengthy march through the Southwest during The American-Mexican War of 1846-1848.)

You mentioned the Mormon Battalion. I spent an extended weekend out in AnzaBorrego. In addition to seeing a sea of desert blooms (lots of purple and white), we hiked a bit through Box Canyon that had a wagon route hewn by the Mormon Brigade using just handtools. It was pretty cool to see.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

One of the stories coming out of Salt Lake as game time approaches. This one focuses on the academic acumen of our players. Here is an excerpt:

A little more than 21 years after Gary Barnett took the purple to Pasadena, leading the football team to the 1996 Rose Bowl, Collins brings Cinderella to Salt Lake City — and you won't find a more compelling name on a bracket than Northwestern. You won't find a fan base happier to be here — Benson's mother led a Chicago-to-Salt Lake flight Wednesday morning in a rendition of the Northwestern fight song. You won't find truer examples of student-athletes, an oxymoron in today's NCAA, than on a Wildcats roster full of guys who packed their book bags for the biggest basketball trip of their lives.

The full reporting:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...caa-stage-haugh-spt-0316-20170315-column.html

 

[Alaskawildkat]

And here is a recent story posted just hours ago by a former Daily Northwestern reporter who is with the LA Times:

First, the excerpt:

"Fans have long wondered why Northwestern couldn’t become the Duke of the Midwest, a private school parlaying winning academics into success on the basketball court. Maybe all it took was nabbing a Duke graduate. Chris Collins has masterfully guided these Wildcats in his first job as a head coach at any level, perhaps too naive to be intimidated by the impossible.

"It’s helped that he has a gritty point guard in Bryant McIntosh, who leads the team in scoring, assists and momentum-changing plays, his corner three-pointer sparking a decisive 20-2 run against Maryland in the Big Ten Conference tournament. Center Dererk Pardon caught what might go down as the most famous scoring pass in school history, a full-court inbounds lob that Pardon snagged near the basket and banked in to beat Michigan earlier this month in the game that is widely believed to have clinched his team’s first-ever NCAA tournament berth."

Second, the full reporting:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/la-sp-northwestern-ncaa-basketball-20170315-story.html

 

[Alaskawildkat]

OK looks like it is now official that the Cats will be playing at least the last college game in the Jazz Arena before the wrecking balls begin swinging Monday.