Ownership of the Great Saltair splits across three parties. The State of Utah owns the lakebed the pavilion sits on, a private party holds the deed to the building itself, and the concerts inside are produced by a separate promoter, Sartain & Saunders, known as S&S Presents. So the question of who owns Saltair has no single answer. It depends on whether you mean the ground, the structure, or the business running shows there.
The State of Utah Owns the Lakebed
The land under the Saltair is sovereign land. Utah gained title to the beds of its navigable lakes and rivers when it entered the Union in 1896 under the Equal Footing Doctrine, and the Great Salt Lake’s bed is included. The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) manages that land for the public under Utah Code ยง65A-10-1.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code Title 65A Chapter 10 – Management of Sovereign Lands
The Public Trust Doctrine prevents the state from handing sovereign land to a private owner outright. FFSL can issue leases, permits, and easements that allow private use of the lakebed, but each one stays subject to the trust and can be revoked to protect public interests like navigation, recreation, and wildlife habitat.2Utah Legislature. Sovereign Lands Pocket Guide The Saltair, then, is not sitting on privately held acreage. It occupies state land under some form of lease or easement.
The Building Itself Is Privately Owned
The physical pavilion, known as Saltair III, is owned separately from the ground. The deed covers the building, its interior improvements, and associated infrastructure, but not the lakebed. That split is a standard arrangement for commercial buildings on sovereign or government-owned land.
Tracing the private chain of title is where things get murky. Saltair III was built in 1981 and opened in July 1982, reportedly assembled from parts of an old airplane hangar trucked over from Hill Air Force Base. By the fall of 1992, the Great Salt Lake Land Company, headed by Salt Lake attorney and real estate developer Walter Plumb, had bought the resort. The company spent six months restoring it and reopened on June 8, 1993, the resort’s one hundredth anniversary.3Utah Education Network. SALTAIR – Utah History Encyclopedia
By 2005, a man named Ian Morehouse had become the sole owner. Past that point, the public record is harder to follow. Earlier reporting on the venue has referenced an entity called “The Salty” and an individual named Cary Hunt as current owners, but no verified public source confirms either. The most reliable way to identify the current deed holder is through Salt Lake County property records and Utah corporate filings, since ownership transfers at this level often do not make the news.
Who Actually Runs the Concerts
Whoever holds the deed, the concert business at Saltair is run by Sartain & Saunders, known as S&S Presents. The company has produced shows in the Salt Lake valley since 2003, starting with backyard concerts at Kilby Court and growing into a multi-venue operation that puts on more than a thousand concerts a year. The Great Saltair, at 12408 W. Saltair Dr. in Magna, is one of its regular venues.
S&S handles booking, ticketing, event permits, and coordination with law enforcement. The arrangement works like a commercial lease between a promoter and the property owner, so the person holding the deed doesn’t need to be in the music business for the building to keep operating as a concert hall. The venue’s own calendar lists events into 2026, so it remains active.
What the State Lease Means for the Owner
Because the building sits on sovereign land, its owner needs a valid lease from FFSL to keep the structure in place. Under Utah Administrative Code R652-70-300, the state issues Special Use Leases for commercial purposes such as recreation facilities, marinas, and restaurants, with terms running from one to 51 years. A concert venue falls under the commercial category.4Utah Administrative Rules. R652-70 Sovereign Lands
Every lease on sovereign land stays subject to the public trust. If FFSL determines that private use is interfering with public recreation, navigation, or environmental quality, it can revoke the lease.2Utah Legislature. Sovereign Lands Pocket Guide That makes ownership of the Saltair building conditional in a way most commercial real estate is not. The owner holds the deed, but the state holds leverage over the ground.
Public Access Around the Building
The building owner can control who comes inside the Saltair, the same as any private property holder. The land around it is different. FFSL has to manage sovereign lands for public benefit, balancing navigation, fish and wildlife habitat, public recreation, and water quality against any economic benefit from private use.2Utah Legislature. Sovereign Lands Pocket Guide That means the building’s owner cannot wall off the surrounding lakebed from the public.
In practice, visitors can walk the shoreline and exposed lakebed near the pavilion even though the building itself is off-limits without a ticket or permission. The receding lake has made the walk a longer one. The Great Salt Lake hit a record low in late 2022, and the shoreline has pulled back dramatically from where it was when Saltair III first opened in 1982, when the lake flooded the main floor under five feet of water by 1984.3Utah Education Network. SALTAIR – Utah History Encyclopedia
So the short answer stays the same regardless of which lake level or which decade you’re asking about. The state owns the ground beneath the Saltair, a private party owns the pavilion standing on it, and S&S Presents books the shows inside.