SALT LAKE CITY – For the past four years, Fleet Block has been a mural in the Granary District commemorating those who have lost their lives in incidents involving police in Utah and across the country.
The ten-acre area between 300 and 400 West and 800 and 900 South was formerly used as a maintenance facility for the city’s vehicle fleet.
The building now features over twenty murals depicting people who were killed by the police or died in police custody.
As early as 2023, the Salt Lake City Council voted to rezone the block.
Families whose loved ones were immortalized in the Fleet Block met with city officials on Thursday evening to discuss future plans. The media were not allowed to attend.
About five hectares of the site will be developed and about three hectares will be open to the public. There, the city wants to create a place that is “directly inspired by the social justice meaning of the murals.”
The Utah chapter of Black Lives Matter is advocating for the families who want a permanent memorial.
Salt Lake City has committed a special, large-scale arts grant to commission public art for the open space that will serve as a monument to social justice.
Families can be involved in the selection process and in the artists’ development phases. The city describes the involvement of families as “deeply involved stakeholders”.
“These places mean so much to us. People don’t understand you if you’re not family, but this was a place of healing, a place of conversation, a place of awareness and a place of transparency. We all come together there and understand each other when nothing else makes sense,” said Gina Thayne, Dillon Taylor’s aunt.
Taylor was shot and killed by South Salt Lake police almost exactly ten years ago.
Thayne said they were told Fleet Block would be the first to be demolished next year. FOX 13 News is still waiting for the city’s official timeline.
