Richard K. A. Kletting Explained

Richard Karl August Kletting (July 1, 1858 – September 25, 1943) was an influential architect in Utah. He designed many well-known buildings, including the Utah State Capitol, the Enos Wall Mansion (which now houses the Thomas S. Monson Center), the original Salt Palace, and the original Saltair Resort Pavilion. His design for the Utah State Capitol was chosen over 40 competing designs. A number of his buildings survive and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places including many in University of Utah Circle and in the Salt Lake City Warehouse District.

Early life

Kletting was born on July 1, 1858, at Unterböhringen,[1] in the Kingdom of Württemberg, Germany.[2] He was one of 16 children. He first decided that he wanted to become an architect when he was fifteen, while working in a stone yard where he cut stone. A year later, he became a junior draftsman on railroad construction work. When Kletting was sixteen he arrived in Paris and learned modern architectural design from a big contracting firm. He served in the German army for one year.[1] He left for the United States of America in 1883, when he was twenty five years old. Kletting married a woman named Mary Elizabeth Saaner on 18 May 1905 in San Francisco. Their children were Mary Wilhelmine born 17 August 1906, Walter born 30 November 1907 and Helen Elizabeth born 28 May 1910. All the children were born in Salt Lake City, Utah.[3]

Career

Richard K. A. Kletting contributed on several "major European projects, including Bon Marche,[4] Credit de Lyonais,[5] and Sacre Coeur at Montmarte,[6] all in France, before coming to the United States and settling in Utah in 1883".[7]

Richard K.A. Kletting was hired as an architect and worked on many Salt Lake City buildings, both residential and commercial. He became a very well known architect in Utah.

He worked in the East before coming to Salt Lake City, where he worked for John H. Burton drafting plans for the old University of Utah.[1]

The University of Deseret was Kletting's first architectural design commissioned in Salt Lake. It later became known as the University of Utah in 1892. His next commission was the original Saltair resort in 1893, on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake. It stood on over two thousand pilings and posts. It became known for its detailed woodwork and Moorish design. It also featured the world's largest dance floor. Saltair was intended as a family resort that hoped to provide a safe atmosphere for families with the supervision of Church leaders. In 1899 the original historic Salt Palace was built and Richard Kletting was the architect. It had a racing track, a theatre, and a dance hall. The building eventually burned down on August 29, 1910. In 1912, Kletting was chosen among forty other competing architects to design the Utah State Capitol building in 1912. His design was based on the style of the time of the Renaissance, called Renaissance Revival.[8] Kletting's design was ultimately selected. Utah granite and Georgia marble were common materials throughout the capitol building. It had a large dome and twenty four columns in its colonnade. The total cost for the project was $2,739,528.

Kletting built many other buildings, including the Mcintyre Building which is claimed to be Utah's first fire-proof building. The building was of constructed of concrete and steel. The interior included metal railings, metal windows and trim, and plaster and marble walls and floors.[9] It was constructed for $180,000. It was the first and only "skyscraper" in Utah until two years later, when the Boston and Newhouse Buildings were constructed. Richard Kletting was a well-accomplished architect, but he was also interested in forestry.

Over his career, Kletting hired several young architects who later went on to be prominent Utah architects in their own right. These included Richard C. Watkins, Carl M. Neuhausen, and Leslie S. Hodgson.

Richard Kletting designed many well-known buildings, including the Utah State Capitol and the original Saltair Pavilion in Utah. He designed several other buildings such as the Territorial Insane Asylum, Albert Fisher Mansion and Carriage House, Reed O. Smoot House, Lehi Tabernacle, Riverton LDS Meetinghouse, LeRoy Cowles Building, Utah Commercial and Savings Bank Building, Beaver County Courthouse, Henry Dinwoody House, Gibbs-Thomas House, J. R. Allen House, and the original Salt Palace.

Works

Works include (with variations in attribution):

Forestry

On February 22, 1897, Richard Kletting organized the first forest reserve in Utah, called the Utah Forestry Association. It helped in the management and preservation of Utah's forests and mountains. In 1964, Kletting Peak, standing at 12,055 feet, in Summit County, Utah, was named for Richard K.A. Kletting. He died on September 25, 1948, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

External links

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=77001306}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: William F. Beer Estate ]. National Park Service. Wilson G. Martin . April 6, 1977 . May 22, 2019. With
  2. Web site: J. Willard Marriot Library. Richard K. Kletting.
  3. News: Capitol Designer Auto Victim . Salt Lake Telegram . Salt Lake City, Utah . September 27, 1943 . 17 . May 21, 2019.
  4. The Le Bon Marché moved to a revolutionary new building completed in 1869, at 24 rue de Sèvres, which was enlarged in 1872, with help from the engineering firm of Gustave Eiffel; Kletting, who left France in 1883 at age 25, would have been age 14 at the time of the enlargement, but could have been involved in continuous renovations thereafter.
  5. The 1876–1883 construction period of the spectacular Crédit Lyonnais headquarters building in the Second Arrondissement of Paris (which includes Montmarte) also matches up to timing of Kletting's biographical assertion.
  6. [Sacré-Cœur, Paris|Sacré-Cœur]
  7. McIntyre writeup by Utah State Historical Society
  8. Book: Capace, Nancy. Encyclopedia of Utah. January 2001. Somerset Publishers, Inc.. 9780403096091.
  9. Book: Roberts, Allen. Salt Lake City's Architecture. 2012. Arcadia Publishing. 9780738595160.
  10. Web site: History of Utah State Hospital. Utah Department of Human Services.
  11. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=84002202}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Gibbs-Thomas House ]. National Park Service. Peter Brown . January 23, 1984 . May 23, 2019. With
  12. https://archive.org/stream/improvementera1708unse#page/731/mode/1up The Improvement Era, Volume 17, No. 8, June 1914, p. 731
  13. News: Richard K.A. Kletting (1858-1943) - Leading Utah Architect . Charles M. Shepherd . The Utah Heritage Foundation Newsletter . Fall 2009. Includes photo of Kletting, and photo of the LDS ward meeting house in Riverton, Utah, built in 1898 and demolished in 1909.
  14. News: Ralph at Cullen Hotel. The Salt Lake Tribune. 28 March 1901. 7.
  15. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=77001313}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: McIntyre Building ]. National Park Service. Allen D. Roberts . January 13, 1975 . May 31, 2019.
  16. The McIntyre Building's Utah State form, included in big collection of docs
  17. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=523789 Cullen Hotel
  18. http://www.ahgp.org/inter-mt/cullen-hotel.html Cullen Hotel
  19. https://en.phorio.com/cullen_hotel,_salt_lake_city,_united_states Cullen Hotel in Salt Lake City
  20. Book: History of Lehi. Hamilton Gardner . 1913 . The Deseret News., "Lehi Tabernacle" p.248-53.
  21. Web site: Alfred Emery Building (1901) . 1998-03-12. University of Utah. 2010-02-20.
  22. Web site: LeRoy Cowles Building (1901). 1998-03-12. University of Utah. 2010-02-18.
  23. Web site: James Talmage Building (1902). 1998-03-12. University of Utah. 2010-02-20.
  24. Book: John S. McCormick. The Historic Buildings of Downtown Salt Lake City . 1982 . Utah State Historical Society. Supported by a National Park Service grant. Downloadable at Issuu.
  25. Utah Commercial Bank Bldg.'s Utah State form in big collection
  26. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Salt Lake City Business District Multiple Resource Area . September 1981 . John S. McCormick . Diana Johnson . May 22, 2019.

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