Station to honor Greeks

A new TRAX light-rail station in Salt Lake City is being named the "Old GreekTown 200 South Station," in recognition of early Greek settlers, but at least one advocate says the name could be seen as divisive by other cultural groups.

The board of trustees of the Utah Transit Authority approved the name during a meeting Wednesday. The station will be located on 200 South near 500 West. The station will be part of an extension of TRAX from the EnergySolutions Arena to the Salt Lake Intermodal Hub at 600 West and between 200 South and 300 South.

The station will open in April 2008, when the hub extension is opened.

Josie Valdez, administrator of diversity for Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, said she was disappointed by the decision and said UTA "lost the opportunity to create a statement that Utah recognizes all diverse groups and includes them."

"Something like this could be seen as divisive," she said.

In the area around 200 South, several cultural and ethnic groups settled in small communities around the first half of the 20th century. Salt Lake City recently recognized Japanese settlers in the area by renaming a stretch of 100 Southas Japantown Street.

The UTA board said while it recognized other groups lived in the area, the two blocks around 200 South were specific to the Greek community and not others.

"My preference is to recognize the distinctive cultural quality of this location," trustee Keith Bartholomew said during debate on the name. "The whole thing about cultural recognition is recognizing distinctiveness."

Michael Romero was one of two trustees who questioned whether the name would stir controversy and become an issue in future naming decisions, but in the end all board members voted in support. Bartholomew told Valdez after the meeting that UTA planned to consider other cultural groups when naming future rail stations.

Chris Gamvroulas, a representative from the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake, said his community supported and actively lobbied for the name recognition. "We want to thank you for the honor," said Gamvroulas, who is also president of Ivory Development, a Utah company that builds houses.

At the board meeting, UTA General Manager John Inglish also told the trustees that the agency is testing a new round-trip ticket for families. The ticket will cost $10 and be good for two adults and six children ages 17 and younger. Tickets will go on sale Aug. 1.

UTA plans to evaluate the success of the ticket after six months and will decide whether to make it permanent.

Inglish said he also has signed off on an environmental study of the West Valley TRAX line. UTA is now finalizing engineering designs for the project and preparing for construction work.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com