SLC murals of people killed by police destroyed in Fleet Block demolition

Demolition is underway on Salt Lake City’s Fleet Block, that disused 10-acre site on the edge of the Granary District that is home to potent street murals depicting people killed by police.

A city spokesperson said the teardown of vacant buildings on the city-owned property between 300 West and 400 West from 800 South to 900 South began Tuesday.

While the demo work is to be completed by March 31, the spokesperson said via text “it’s hard to pinpoint” just when the murals on those exterior walls facing 800 South and 300 West would be coming down.

Some of them were still standing on the property’s perimeter as of Thursday afternoon, as equipment tore apart the block’s inner structures. Others fell to the wreckage.

Long named for the city’s transport fleet operations once housed there, the run-down Fleet Block is envisioned for the future as a vibrant mixed-use public square benefiting the surrounding neighborhood with housing, community amenities, open spaces and a dedicated memorial honoring its history.

The square someday will be folded into the city’s emerging Green Loop as well, if current plans hold up.

Preserving the murals has been deemed too expensive, the city has said, because each wall would weigh around 3 tons. The utility buildings can’t be saved either, partly because they contain hazardous asbestos.

Permits indicate the demolition, by city-hired Xcel General Contracting of Bountiful, began the same day approval was issued. Crews are to take down all the buildings on the publicly owned 8.57 acres on the block, documents show, but leave the asphalt and concrete pads for now. Property on the block’s southwest corner is privately owned.

After Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s murder in 2020 sparked nationwide protests, exterior walls of the block’s decaying buildings became a spontaneous canvas for street art portraying the faces of those killed during police interactions.

The street gallery got started by a collective of anonymous artists and, along with nearby sidewalks and intersections, evolved into a memorial and rallying spot for grieving families and for social justice demonstrations.

In a statement Thursday, Salt Lake City Council member Darin Mano, an architect and small-business owner, said he recognized the block was sacred for some and “a place of mourning for families and a powerful call for police reform.”

“I understand how difficult it is to see this space change,” Mano said, “but I am hopeful that its transformation will preserve it as a place for reflection, connection and community.”

Mural supporters’ vigil and final farewell

The city’s demolition work follows a Feb. 8 vigil held there by friends, family members and community activists in honor of those featured in the dramatic, two-toned portraits standing a story high.

In total, 26 faces were ultimately memorialized on the outer walls, in stark images of magenta and maroon.

Some of those featured, like Floyd and Breonna Taylor, were nationally known. Others were Utahns, such as Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, Zane James and Cindreia Europe.

“This space was designed out of love,” Rae Duckworth said as families and friends started removing litter and flowers at the murals in February. “Everybody in Utah should know a name and a face here and their story.”

Duckworth is also chair of Black Lives Matter’s Utah chapter. Her cousin, Bobby Ray Duckworth, 26, was killed by an officer in Carbon County in 2019.

The murals, Ruby Mercado said, represented a “protest wall.”

“We hoped that the mural would be the change,” said Mercado, whose 26-year-old brother, Jovany Mercado-Bedolla, was shot and killed by police in August 2019. “To see them come down, [we’re] feeling defeated. Now we’re just hoping the city stays true to their word.”

Dubbed “Goodbye For Now, But Not Forever,” the vigil brought out scores of other supporters, including an uncle to Floyd, Selwyn Jones of South Dakota.

The city, meanwhile, has held talks since 2021 with relatives, community advocates, artists and a cadre of others regarding the block’s future.

What’s to come

Springing from those talks, the city has dedicated 3 acres in its future plans for public open spaces at the block’s southeast corner that will feature artwork commissioned to honor social justice themes.

Mano said he hoped the city honors its commitments by ensuring that same spirit “remains woven into this block’s future.”

Along with the open space, adjoining 1-acre, 1.6-acre and 2.3-acre parcels — located on the north and west sides of the block — will be offered for development in exchange for community benefits. Plans also call for midblock walkways running east-west and north-south.

The Public Lands Department has a process underway for selecting its consultant to design the open space, as shaped by public input.

Along with a series of still images captured by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, officials have rendered a 3D virtual version of the murals, which is now available online.

The city has a detailed website up, too, charting the Fleet Block’s unfolding story, dubbed “The Future of Fleet Block.”