Salt Lake City to sell Garfield School to Westminster

Salt Lake City will sell the Garfield School to Westminster College, clearing the way for the college to expand its campus across 1300 East.

Mayor Ralph Becker announced his decision late Tuesday to sell to Westminster, rather than a nonprofit school or a developer interested in building condos there.

"Some will be satisfied with the final decision and some will not," Becker said.

In Sugar House, some homeowners had expressed concerns about allowing Westminster to expand its campus.

"The general sense is that the student body isn't very respectful of the neighborhood," neighbor Shawn Rossiter told the Deseret News earlier his month. "We've had a lot of nuisances from Westminster students."

But in announcing the sale to the college, Becker outlined a number of stipulations for Garfield's future owner.

Those requirements relate to noise, hours of operation, types of uses, the height of future buildings and open space, Becker said.

"Any time you have a big institution in a neighborhood, it's going to have an impact," the mayor said. "There's always going to be some natural friction with the neighbors. But it's incumbent on those institutions to address those impacts."

Becker's decision follows a selection committee's unanimous recommendation to sell to Westminster over two other potential buyers.

The committee cited Westminster's financial stability and its experience with historic preservation projects in naming the college as the top choice.

Westminster plans to use the property as an extension of its campus, including a graduate and continuing education center and laboratory school.

Garfield School, 1838 S. 1500 East, was operated by the Salt Lake City School District until 1970. The parcel was purchased by the city in 2006.

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